Thursday, April 21, 2011

Shots for signatures in WI recall

"So, you're going to get us -- one, two, three, four, five shots if we sign this?"

Women in a bar in Burlington, Wis., say they were offered shots by a Republican signature-gatherer if they signed a recall petition against a Democratic state senator.

This is either desperate campaigning or the worst pick-up line ever.

The Wisconsin Democratic Party is planning to file a complaint to the Government Accountability Board over "shots for signatures." Huffington Post broke the story.
Reid Magney, a spokesman for the GAB -- which oversees the state's campaign finance, elections, ethics and lobbying laws -- said offering drinks in return for signatures doesn't actually appear to be illegal.
"Our attorneys have been unable to find anything in state law that would prohibit offering drinks or anything for signing a petition," Magney said, though he added that they "strongly encourage people not to do so because it taints the process."
The woman, who signed the complaint, said a bartender showed her the recall petition and said that if she signed it, she and her friends would get free shots. In an audio recording featured on Huffington Post, the woman refers to the Fab 14 leaving the state as "bullcrap" four times. She probably didn't need the freebies.

Republicans have until early next week. They filed a recall petition today against our Teamster brother Sen. Dave Hansen and say they'll file them against Sen. Jim Holperin and Sen. Robert Wirch. Already, recall petitions have been filed for five Republican senators who voted to end collective bargaining rights for workers in the state. This is truly historic, as Wisconsin's recall law has only been used four times in 85 years.

Cheers!