Wisconsin's state elections board has officially announced that Gov. Scott Walker will face a recall election this spring.

The Government Accountability Board said this morning that 900,939 valid signatures were collected out of 931,053 petitions to recall Walker, representing a very low failure rate of 3.5%. The total number of signatures was far beyond -- 67% more than -- the number required.

The board also certified the recall elections against Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and four Republican senators.

Primary elections, if necessary, would be May 8, followed by a general election on June 5.

If Walker were recalled, he would be the only Wisconsin governor ever to be recalled, and the third governor in the nation to be recalled.

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TPM: Walker Recall Election Officially Begins

The recall election in Wisconsin against Republican Gov. Scott Walker has officially been triggered, after more than a year of protests, legislative recalls, and petition drives that have made this Midwestern swing state a center of national attention.

The state Government Accountability Board, a non-partisan agency composed of retired judges who oversee elections in the state, voted to certify the recall petitions at a special meeting Friday morning. This tees up a late spring election that will be one of the most closely watched campaigns in the country, second only to the presidential race.

This long-expected decision came following official recommendations from GAB staff on Thursday, after completing the petition review that found 900,938 validated signatures against Walker. (At the meeting today, it was announced that one struck signature, Fungky Van Den Elzen, was found overnight to actually be a real woman’s name — boosting the actual number to 900,939, with the board’s staff attorney Michael Haas apologizing to the woman.) This was 67% more than the required threshold of 540,208, or 25 percent of the total number of voters in the 2010 gubernatorial election, which were collected by the state Democrats and supporters in a 60-day period from mid-November to mid-January.

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WI Gov't Accountability Board sets #wirecall Primary Election May 8 -- 39 days away. General Election set June 5 -- 67 days away. It's real!

— John Nichols (@NicholsUprising) March 30, 2012

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The Wisconsin State Journal: GAB throws out few petition signatures; recommends Walker recall proceed

GAB staff said in a memo released Thursday that 900,938 valid signatures were collected on petitions seeking to recall Walker, and about 808,990 were gathered on those seeking to recall Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch. The minimum needed to trigger a recall was 540,208 signatures for each of them.

If the board orders elections on Friday as expected, recall primary elections — if necessary — are expected to be held on May 8, followed by a June 5 general election. At least three Democrats are running for governor, and another three have said they are running for lieutenant governor, making primaries likely. Four Republican senators also face recall. [...]

If Walker loses the election, Walker would be the first Wisconsin governor, and only the third governor in the United States, to be recalled. He would join California Gov. Gray Davis and North Dakota Gov. Lynn Frazier.