Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos has raised concerns about the signatures on petitions filed for his recall election, claiming that there is a lack of valid ones.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission, composed of members from both political parties, has a deadline of June 28 to assess the validity of signatures and decide if a recall election will be initiated. The panel has rejected the initial proposal due to insufficient content.
Vos is facing opposition from supporters of former President Donald Trump, including former Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman, who submitted over 9,000 signatures on May 28.
In a surprising turn of events, Vos, who holds the record for being the longest-serving Assembly speaker in Wisconsin history, found himself in the crosshairs. His refusal to impeach the official responsible for overseeing the state’s elections has sparked anger among Trump and his loyal supporters.
In a recent statement, Vos revealed a significant number of invalid signatures that were discovered. These included 2,000 signatures that were collected from individuals outside of his current legislative district, over 400 instances of individuals signing more than once, and nearly 350 signatures that were collected outside of the allowable window.
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According to Vos, signatures were collected at addresses that were nonexistent, vacant, or not residential.
In a statement, the committee that circulated the petitions confidently claimed to have enough valid ones to trigger the recall. They dismissed Vos’ challenge as “laughable.” In order to initiate a recall election in the district where Vos was elected to serve, a total of 6,850 valid signatures are required.
In March, the group submitted over 9,000 signatures, but the elections commission found that only 5,905 of them were valid.
Vos has sparked outrage among Trump supporters and those who hold the mistaken belief that the former president actually won Wisconsin in the 2020 election. Vos faced criticism for his refusal to decertify President Joe Biden’s narrow victory in the state. Biden’s victory, with a margin of approximately 21,000 votes, has endured multiple partial recounts, numerous lawsuits, an independent audit, and a review by a conservative law firm.
Vos faced increased backlash from Trump supporters after declining to support a plan to impeach Meagan Wolfe, the state’s highest elections official.
The recall is further complicated by the implementation of new legislative maps during the upcoming fall election.
In a recent development, the elections commission has sought clarification from the Wisconsin Supreme Court regarding the location of a potential recall election. Specifically, they are seeking guidance on whether the election should be held in the district where Vos was elected or in the newly established district boundary lines that will be in effect for the regular November election.
The court has chosen not to provide any additional clarification or amendments to its previous ruling in December, which declared the current maps unconstitutional and prohibited their future use.
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