Monday, February 27, 2012
9:08 AM
Citing time crunch, Walker camp won't file challenges to recall signatures
Gov. Scott Walker will not challenge any of the signatures filed against him because his campaign did not have enough time to review the more than 150,000 pages filed seeking his recall, a spokeswoman said.
Walker faced a deadline today to file challenges after a Dane County judge granted him a 20-day extension beyond the 10 days allotted under state law. Walker also sought an additional two weeks but was turned down.
"We faced an impossible timeline," said Walker spokeswoman Ciara Matthews.
Matthews declined comment when asked if the campaign would appeal the ruling denying additional time beyond the original extension.
She said the campaign will rely on the GAB to strike fraudulent signatures instead of filing any challenges.
Matthews said recall organizers were given 60 days to collect signatures, twice the time the campaign was given to review them.
"It obviously takes more time to verify signatures than it does to collect them," she said.
The campaign planned to release a statement this afternoon about its decision.
State Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate responded this morning that the Walker campaign had gathered millions of dollars and thousands of volunteers to look over the signatures in a timeframe already three times longer than the window allowed under state law.
"It's bordering on the absurd," Tate said of the campaign's statement in a conference call with reporters. He added that the campaign's decision reflects that "they can't give us one example of a fraudulent signature."
Labels: 2012_recall_elections
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