Thursday, April 26, 2012
1:31 PM
Quirk with recall elections allows cross over voting in primaries
Normally, Wisconsin voters can only vote in one party’s primary on Election Day. But that won’t be the case for the May 8 recall primaries.
The GAB circulated a memo earlier this week giving an overview of the recall elections, including the ability for voters to cast ballots in a party primary for guv, for example, and then vote in another party’s primary for lt. guv. But there’s still some confusion about that quirk with the upcoming primary.
GAB spokesman Reid Magney said voters can cross over in the primaries because the six recalls -- four in the state Senate, one for guv and one for lt. guv -- are “technically separate elections that happen to be occurring on the same day.” Thus, it's different from, for example, the upcoming August primary, when voters will only be allowed to vote in one party's races from the U.S. Senate on down to Assembly districts.
Gov. Scott Walker has a challenger in the GOP primary, while four Dems -- Tom Barrett, Kathleen Falk, Doug La Follette and Kathleen Vinehout -- are running for their party’s nomination, while “fake” or “protest” candidate Gladys Huber is also on the ballot.
In the lt. guv race, incumbent Republican Rebecca Kleefisch has no opposition, but Dems Mahlon Mithcell and Ira Robbins are running. Protest candidate Isaac Weix is also on the ballot.
In the four Senate races, Republicans have put up fake candidates against all four Dem candidates in the primary as part of their effort to have all the recall general elections held in June.
Under recall election rules, all incumbents automatically appear on the general election ballot unless they draw a primary opponent. Walker is the only Republican to do so.
Republicans said they would not spend any money to support the protest candidates in the primary and did not plan to campaign for them. But Weix has now declared that he will actively campaign for the Dem nomination.
-- By JR Ross
Labels: 2012_recall_elections
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