Organizers submit signatures to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker

Angry Wisconsin voters submitted more than one million signed petitions to recall Republican Governor Scott Walker, the organizers of the recall announced Tuesday. The petitions are nearly double the amount needed to force a recall vote.

Organizers say they submitted the boxes of petitions for Walker to the Government Accountability Board Tuesday afternoon.

"The collection of more than one million signatures represents a crystal clear indication of how strong the appetite is to stop the damage and turmoil that Scott Walker has caused Wisconsin," Ryan Lawler, board member for United Wisconsin, said in a statement.

Protests against Walker's tenure broke out last year after the first-term governor spearheaded a bill to limit the power of teacher and other public sector unions.

The number of signatures required to trigger a recall election for the governor is 540,208, which is 25 percent of the number of votes cast during the 2010 elections. The number of petitions nearly equal the number of people - 1.12 million - who voted for Walker in 2010.

More than enough petitions have also been filed to recall Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch. Efforts to recall four Republican members of the state Senate, including Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, are also underway.

Six recall votes of Wisconsin legislators were held this past summer and two members lost their seats to Democratic challengers, reducing the Republican majority.

The group United Wisconsin says it will continue to target additional members of the legislature for recall.

The petitions must be verified by the state, which could take several months. If there are enough to force a recall election for Walker, Kleefisch and state legislators, elections are expected to take place this summer.