Completed recall volunteer forms / Melissa Ryan

Earlier today, I talked with Graeme Zielinski, spokesman of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin (DPW from here on out). I contacted him because I was concerned about yesterday's report on the progress of the recall petition drive against the eight Republican state Senators. The cause of my concern was that, on March 14th, the DPW reported they had collected 45% of the necessary signatures. Then, eleven days later, the DPW reported they were only over 50%. That's an increase of as little as 6% over eleven days.

However, I feel much better now. It turns out that yesterday's numbers were not really an update. Once the DPW crossed the 50% threshold, which actually happened a while ago, they decided to stop reporting numbers until they are close to filing the petitions. According to Zielinski, they are "pleased as punch" with the progress of signature gathering efforts, and also going over the signatures they have collected with a "fine tooth comb" in order to ward off any challenges when they file the petitions.

So things are going well, but there's a lot of work left to be done. The DPW needs to get far more than 100% of the required signatures in order to be safe from any petition challenges that might occur after filing. Further, any signatures gathered are an excellent way to identify a voter for the recall effort, so the DPW would be smart to continue gathering signatures right up until the May 2nd filing deadline. As such, if you are a resident of Wisconsin, here are some resources for to get involved:

Download recall petition forms.

Find a recall petition signature gathering event near you.

Or, visit a recall petition canvassing office near you.

On Wisconsin!