MADISON (WKOW) -- Four Republican senators have one more week to verify the signatures on petitions to recall them, but some people are not happy about how they are going about doing that.
One man is accusing them of using scare tactics.
That is because campaigns are not just looking through signatures on their own and checking on a few suspicious names. They are contacting nearly everyone who signed to ask if it is a mistake.
"This is extremely underhanded," said Howard Stenner of Columbus.
Stenner was not happy when he got a postcard in the mail.
"They are in the process of trying to scare people off from their rights honestly," Stenner said.
He got a postcard from Sen. Scott Fitzgerald's campaign. It went out to people whose names showed up on a petition to recall Fitzgerald and urges them to call if it is a mistake.
"I firmly believe in my heart, it is nothing but an intimidation factor to scare people off," Stenner said.
"I am sorry someone would interpret it that way, but that is not the goal at all," Sen. Fitzgerald said.
Fitzgerald said he and the other three senators who could face a recall sent out thousands of those postcards.
Fitzgerald said some were undeliverable, and some people did call back saying they did not sign a petition though he did not say how many.
"We are going to do our due diligence to make sure signatures are valid," Sen. Fitzgerald said.
His website invites people to check for themselves.
"My answering machine is full of people who say, ‘My neighbor is on the list and they did not sign.'"
Fitzgerald says they actually got the idea from the Democrats in the spring recall elections.
A Government Accountability Board spokesman says Democrats with Sen. Dave Hansen's campaign called hundreds of people, asking if they signed, if they were tricked or if they would like to change their minds.
More than 80 said they did not sign a petition and nearly 280 said they were tricked.
"That would be as low as what this is," Stenner said. "Doesn't matter what party it is."
Stenner said the tactics will not work with him.
"I'm too old to be scared off by something this silly," Stenner said.
Sen. Fitzgerald said his campaign started with a specific date and worked backwards to determine who got a postcard.
He said he might mail the entire list if he gets enough of a response.
Either way, he says he has got thousands of signatures to challenge when he reaches his deadline next Thursday.
