Brookfield Girl, 16, Signs Recall Petition; Mom Gets It Crossed Out

A 16-year-old Brookfield girl says she lied to Recall Walker petitioners, saying she was 18 and legally able to vote so she could sign her name to help recall Gov. Scott Walker, according to police reports.

But when the girl's mother found out, her mother drove the girl back to the petitioners — gathering signatures Saturday afternoon along busy Blue Mound Road at Main Street — to get her name crossed off, reports say.

The mother could not be reached at home for comment Monday. The Brookfield Central High School student "liked" a Wisconsins Democratic Senators — The Fab 14 Facebook page but otherwise showed no sign of political activism. According to Brookfield police reports:

Police got a call about 4:20 p.m. Saturday from an anonymous caller who heard a woman telling recall petitioners that they had had her 16-year-old daughter sign a petition. The petitioners said they would cross the girl's name off.

When police talked to the girl, she said she had lied and told petitioners she was 18 and could legally sign.

Police have not received other complaints about underage petition signers, Police Capt. Jim Adlam said. But he noted there have been media reports about people signing multiple times, including one man who estimated he signed 80 times. Recall opponents have raised concerns that the state Government Accountability Board will not automatically strike signatures if people call themselves Mickey Mouse.

Both petition gatherers and signers, Adlam said, "have a duty and an obligation to ensure that everything is accurate. You shouldn’t be fudging it or knowingly allowing people to be signing it twice or uttering false information."

A website called Verify the Recall says it will and ferret out any fraud.