Everyone and their grandma was out today for the final day of collecting signatures to recall Republican State Senators Mary Lazich and Glen Grothman, the last 2 of the 8 Republicans targeted for recall. They're both in very Republican districts.
The last teams are finishing their areas and are coming in now.
There was always a slim chance that these two would be sucessfully recalled so it's surprising that we were very close before this weekends final push. Final tallies will be done tonight after all the petitions have been turned in. Thoughts, prayers, hopes and dreams are on those pages that the number gathered would be enough to put the recalls over the top.
It's been door to door these final couple of weeks. Trudging through neighborhoods isn't easy, but every signature gathered was one more towards the goal. Thankfully, I didn't run into anyone hostile or angry. I kept a smile on my face, exuded politeness with greetings of "good morning or good afternnon - I'm sorry to bother you..." and apologized for bothering anyone not caring to sign and that seemed to be enough to discourage any problems.
Tomorrow, my attention returns to the Kloppenburg recount. Milwaukee and Waukesha Counties election commissions took today off, although they did count yesterday. As I last dairied, it was a difficult decision for most volunteers about where they wanted to put their efforts this weekend. I decided to work the recalls in spite of aching joints worsened by cold and windy weather. This was the first time I canvassed so extensively in years. Aspirin and my heating pad are now my best friends.
So, tomorrow it's off for 10 hours for the recount with the outside Port-A-Potty as an additionaly misery. I don't expect a miracle, but I do want all the votes counted - particularly those in Waukesha County - as well as a good explanation and investigation of What The Hell Happened There. The recount there is discovering other "human errors" such as ballot bags having security tags with different numbers than they should have.
We'll know tomorrow whether the final push has resulted in the recall of at least 1 more Republican State Senator. Everything possible to be done was done.
I'm sad at the loss of Wisconsin hero Ben Masel. He won't be here to see the results of his efforts. RIP.
Anyone with a few extra shekels can donate to the recount efforts. It would be appreciated (lawyers are expensive and hers need to be around every recall site 10 hours or more per day).
Thanks for your interest and support in these unique times.
Update: OMG Edition: I just got a phone call from Joanne Kloppenburg thanking me for my past and future work on her recount. How nice of her to do that. She was unaware of the Port-A-Potty issue for volunteers and feels we should be allowed to use the building facilities.