Democracy Gone Astray

Democracy, being a human construct, needs to be thought of as directionality rather than an object. As such, to understand it requires not so much a description of existing structures and/or other related phenomena but a declaration of intentionality.
This blog aims at creating labeled lists of published infringements of such intentionality, of points in time where democracy strays from its intended directionality. In addition to outright infringements, this blog also collects important contemporary information and/or discussions that impact our socio-political landscape.

All the posts here were published in the electronic media – main-stream as well as fringe, and maintain links to the original texts.

[NOTE: Due to changes I haven't caught on time in the blogging software, all of the 'Original Article' links were nullified between September 11, 2012 and December 11, 2012. My apologies.]

Friday, December 30, 2011

Scott Walker: Wisconsin Recall Process 'Pretty Unusual'

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker (R) criticized his state's recall process, attacking the state's elections and ethics agency for allowing questionable names on petitions.

"The whole process is pretty unusual," Walker said Tuesday during an appearance on Fox News. "We had one of the local affiliates here [reporting] about someone signing it, proudly saying they signed 80 different recall petitions. As we see it, you should only be able to sign it once and only once, and it should be for a legal citizen."

Walker was criticizing the recent news that signatures from Mickey Mouse and Adolf Hitler would count on recall petitions as long as they are properly dated and include a valid Wisconsin address. The Government Accountability Board, which runs the recall process in Wisconsin, has said that it won't eliminate duplicate or questionable signatures from recall petitions, leaving the responsibility to validate signatures to the campaigns.

Walker's campaign and the state's Republican Party director have filed a lawsuit against the board, saying that allowing multiple signatures is a violation of the equal protection clauses of the state and U.S. constitutions.

Wisconsin Senate Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau), who supports Walker, was recently confronted over an email he sent to constituents titled "Mickey Mouse is helping..." asking them to "fight the fraud that is happening right now on recall petitions in my district." The email, which questioned the authenticity of the recall petitions, alleged opponents of the Badger State's governor were "going to cheat to get Scott Walker out."

Original Article
Source: Huff 

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