Recall Petition Search Page
It’s a bit raw, but you can look up all of the names on the recall petitions by zip code. I presume it will be refined over time. Take a look!
I found my son’s name in the data set. He did not sign.
Is there a way to find the paper petition from the information in the data set?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 02, 2012 at 1617 hrs
Not yet. I think that capability will be added at some point.
Posted by Owen on March 02, 2012 at 1618 hrs
Are the last two columns information about referencing the paper petition? Looks like sheet # and line….maybe
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 02, 2012 at 1655 hrs
I tried that Floyd and the page did not match.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 02, 2012 at 1701 hrs
@Headless - oh, okay. I hadn’t tried yet. Do those columns represent something different or did you just find a data entry error?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 02, 2012 at 1724 hrs
I think the database is screwed up. My wife, or someone with the same name in the same zipcode, who did sign, I did not, is listed with the wrong address. There is no one else listed with that name in our zipcode.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 02, 2012 at 1756 hrs
I concur with John and have found the same issues as Headless. The last two columns of the database are clearly meant to be petition sheet# and line #. I checked multiple names I know in the database of people I know signed, and they did not match up with the information on the scanned pages at the GAB website.
Ignore this database. Best to wait for the searchable one from Verify the Recall!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 02, 2012 at 1848 hrs
Thank you to all the volunteers who put this database together!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 02, 2012 at 1947 hrs
That database is so full of inputting errors! I searched by streets, mine and those nearby, for neighbors I know. Almost half of the names are misspelled, and add in those I found with misspelled street names? The result you get is: garbage.
This group is just going to cost us Wisconsin taxpayers a lot of time and money with this mess of a database that will fuel more foolishness and delays.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 03, 2012 at 1153 hrs
I hate to have to agree with Mr. Gee (poetry accidental), but this database is really hosed. I did a LOT of data entry with True the Vote, and their methods are much more scientific, requiring each name to be entered by three different people at least three times.
That said, I also have to agree with Gee about the “garbage in, garbage out” idea he presents. Some of the printing on the petitions was so poor we had no choice other than to enter “Name Unreadable” in the database. I would cringe when I saw a scanned petition with “Madison” as the municipality. I really believe the students were taking these things around the bars on State Street for signatures - most of them were THAT bad! I could verify names through SVRS if I could read a street number and zip code, but with students, mostly renters and temporary residents, SVRS was little help.
I suggest the True the Vote product will be much more accurate and readable, but don’t blame the data entry people for “misspelled” names. The garbage that went in wasn’t put there by the dedicated volunteers who could only type in what they saw.
I did notice a member of the Exec. Board of my county’s Republican Party on one of the petitions. And before Mr. Gee gets his undies in a big wad over this guy signing the form against Gov. Walker, he died before last November!
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 03, 2012 at 1228 hrs
Like I mentioned above, they also mixed up names with addresses. Right names, right addresses, but incorrectly matched up. That is just inexcusable.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 03, 2012 at 2208 hrs
In general I’m a Walker supporter though I’m not thrilled with everything he’s done (and I think the state Republican party is really pretty incompetent). I think the recall was poor form in that in my eyes, it’s a tool for major issues - criminal activity & such that can’t wait for the election - and that passing policies you disagree with doesn’t meet that level. A ton of people who signed the petition are idiots - but then a ton of Walker supporters are idiots. For those who are well-informed & genuinely believe in the recall, I respect their opinion & right to do so.
With that in mind, for the most part, it’s all been a curiosity as much as anything for me. Interesting issues have come up - like whether to release the recall forms publicly or not (which do believe proper). So I spent a little time digging through the data. A couple of interesting things I found:
I just happened to discover a guy who was listed twice - once with the name Gene & once Eugene - same last name, address, etc so pretty clear it was the same person who signed twice. I wasn’t looking for it - he just happened to have the same last name as me & I found it that way. The petitions looked to be a long ways apart. Made me wonder if that got caught & was only counted once or not & how many similar situations there were. Have to wonder too, whether it was just an accident or if the guy intentionally listed his name differently. Conscientious objectors have my respect - willfully trying to cheat the system is very much another story.
Second one - saw a guy on my street signed. Couldn’t quite remember which house it was so I hit the county tax info page to find the address on a map. Found him & figured it out. But I also noticed his name was in red, so I was curious why that was. Seems that means you’re delinquent on your tax bills. He’s 4 years & $12,000 behind. I don’t think there’s any larger conclusion to be drawn from that - but it did strike me as interesting. I guess if you’ve decided that you aren’t going to pay your property taxes anyway, you don’t really care if they stay lower or go up.
In general, it did strike me as odd/surprising the number of people I saw who signed & had different last names as others at the same address. They didn’t list appt #s or anything & are just the ones I was perusing around me, so they’re really all what I’d consider single-family dwellings. Maybe divorced/second marriage families or something, I don’t know - wouldn’t think to really pry or dig any deeper - doesn’t seem to really matter much anyway, but just seemed unexpected.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 03, 2012 at 2234 hrs
Locke,
I looked through the database, and I realized that the addresses are really screwed up. They do not always match the name of the person who signed. Something is wrong with this database.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 04, 2012 at 1240 hrs
I think what happened is they input everything into an Xcell spreadsheet and then sorted it incorrectly, mixing up the names and addresses.
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on March 04, 2012 at 1338 hrs
I’m not sure the tool is understood and I for sure do not see the problems you are all describing with all the addresses being wrong. To start with the tool is not “data”. It is a tool to get you to petitions. The judge who blocked voter ID was found in under a minute today using this tool. Could you have found his signature looking through the pages at the GAB?
The click and number is NOT the GAB petition page it is the name of the file that will show you the petition. The addresses are as right as they can be and are not “all wrong”.
But to be really clear, the TOOL is not DATA! It is a tool to help you get to the data. Until VTR comes online it is the best we have and hundreds of people have found duplicates, dead people, under age etc. But you have to look at the petitions. The Tool is NOT DATA. It is an index. Like an index card at the library. You wouldn’t say the book is no good if the index card has a typo. Just look at petitions.
There is currently no other way to find petitions and this has been used 58,000 times as of right now.
Yes Verify The Recall will have a better one but should we all wait until they get thiers up to find the petition of a Dane Count Judge that signed it and then rules against Walker?
Posted by Put Wisconsin First on March 07, 2012 at 0033 hrs
Total Entries: 20000
Total Comments: 134051
Most Recent Entry: 05/25/2012 06:26 am
Most Recent Comment on: 05/25/2012 10:25 am
Total Members: 9751
Total Logged in members: 0
Total guests: 118
Total anonymous users: 2
Most Recent Visitor on: 05/25/2012 10:27 am
The most visitors ever was 538 on 12/01/2007 02:11 pm
Protected and licensed under a Creative Commons License (some rights reserved).