Appeals Court Orders Waukesha Judge To give Wisconsin Dems a Do-Over on Signature Review Case [View all]

[Scuba]

http://www.bluecheddar.net/?p=18187

Waukesha Judge J. Mac Davis is being forced into a do-over. The supposedly non-partisan judge petulantly refused to hear from any party other than Friends of Scott Walker in a lawsuit over how Walker’s recall signatures are being counted. Now an appeals court is forcing Judge Davis to redo the same case. Davis is a former Republican state senator (1983-1990). To note: Just because he is in Waukesha County does not mean he has a tricorner hat in the closet and a Gadsen flag hanging from his porch –it just increases the odds by a thousand percent.

You may remember that Davis not only refused to allow non-GOP parties a voice in that trial, he also ignored the law concerning review of recall petitions. In previous Wisconsin recalls, if you were a Wisconsin politician fighting a recall, that was your own damn problem.

From truthout, “State statute Section 9.10(2)(g) states [emphasis added] that the “burden of proof for any challenge [of a petition signature] rests with the individual bringing the challenge.” 9.10(2)(h) mandates that any “challenge to the validity of signatures on the petition shall be presented by affidavit or other supporting evidence.”"

Or in other words, up to and including last summer’s senate recalls,the burden of proof (and the cost) to challenge recall petition signatures fell on the individual challenging. Judge Davis reversed that in his ruling, placing the responsibility to challenge signatures on the Government Accountability Board. That also placed the expense of challenging signatures on every Wisconsin tax payer instead of the politician facing the recall. Consdidering that Walker gets to raise unlmited sums of cash during this recall petition counting time period, there is no reason for him to rush the process.

This is good news as it may thwart one of the Repukes delaying strategies.