Wisconsin: Senate Majority Leader proposes changing leadership of the GAB to political appointees

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, who survived a recall in June, has proposed changing the Government Accountability Board, replacing the six retired judges who serve with political appointees. There doesn't seem to be any full proposal on the table, but we probably can be sure of one thing -- it will be a total disaster for voters -- either it will be seen as favoring the party in power, or (if it is like NY where the two parties share control) it will be unfair to insurgents, independents and third parties.

Unsurprisingly, the 2011 and 2012 recalls are the basis for the complaints:.

Republicans thought the board did not do enough to identify problem signatures on recall petitions, while Democrats argued the board took too long to review petitions and order recalls.

The board uses a "byzantine" process to select members, which sounds like the best way to do it:

For each opening on the board, a panel of four appeals court judges - selected at random - reviews applicants and makes recommendations. For an opening, they forward at least two names to the governor, who must then select one of them to sit on the accountability board.