MADISON (WKOW) -- A video of a man collecting recall petition signatures from two young women in Milwaukee last Friday night prompted an allegation of fraud by conservatives, but state Democrats say the allegation is baseless and inflammatory.
The video was shot on Milwaukee's North Avenue Bridge during an Occupy Milwaukee event.
It shows two young women signing their names to petitions to recall Governor Scott Walker and Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch.
The person who shot it then posted it to YouTube under the username "Hawzwood." It includes a description that says: "These appear to be children under the age of 18.
Wisconsin Democratic Party Spokesperson Graeme Zielinski said that allegation is absolutely false.
"To call what these people did, practicing their rights as citizens, fraud, is malicious," said Zielinski. "It is a lie."
Zielinski says the Democratic Party quickly tracked these women down and that each provided proof they were both over the age of 18.
Zielinski sent pictures to 27 News which show the women holding their ID's.
One is 22 years old, the other is 20.
Zielinski would only send the pictures on the condition we would not show them on the air or on the web, because he wanted to protect the women's privacy.
But their faces are already out on the web sites of a number of conservative groups, which re-posted the video and alleged fraud.
"These people lawfully exercised their act as citizens and now you have this right-wing smear machine out there, maliciously and improperly using this video," said Zielinski.
"The problem is, I don't know what to believe," responded Brian Schimming, Vice-Chair of the Wisconsin Republican Party.
Schimming said the party can't control the actions of others, but it is encouraging people to report potential fraud to them.
"What we do wanna make sure is that, if this state is gonna get dragged through this recall election, that its honest," said Schimming.
"There is plenty of room for a difference of opinion," said Zielinski. "But when lies like this are inserted into the debate, into the conversation, it is shameful and may even be actionable."
But Zielinski said he would leave it to the two women to pursue any legal action.
27 News did send an email to the person who shot and posted the video on their YouTube account, requesting an interview.
But, "Hawzwood" has yet to respond to our request, and his or her identity is still unknown.
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MADISON (WKOW) -- A video of a man collecting recall petition signatures from two young women in Milwaukee last Friday night prompted an allegation of fraud by conservatives, but state Democrats say the allegation is baseless and inflammatory.
The video was shot on the North Avenue bridge during an Occupy Milwaukee event.
It shows a man getting signatures from two young women on petitions to recall Gov. Scott Walker and Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch.
The person who shot the video posted it to www.youtube.com, under name "Hawzwood."
In the description under the video, Hawzwood wrote: "These appear to be children under the age of 18. They were also given cigarettes in exchange for their signatures. They were asked if it would be OK to contact them to enlist their help in getting signatures from their friends."
The video made its way onto several conservative web sites, including the page for right-wing Milwaukee radio talk-show host Charlie Sykes.
But, Democratic Party Spokesperson Graeme Zielinski told 27 News that all of the allegations are false.
He said the Democratic Party has tracked down the two young women and that both of them provided proof that they were over 18 years of age.
Zielinski said he would provide that proof to 27 News Monday afternoon.
He also disputed the notion that the women were provided with cigarettes in exchange for their signatures.
Click here to watch the video.
Capitol Bureau Chief Greg Neumann will have a full report on this story tonight on 27 News at 5 and 6.
