State election officials may not have to scan recall petitions for duplicate or fictitious names, according to a recent appeals court decision.

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals unanimously overruled a lower court’s decision Friday, deciding that recall committees should have been allowed to participate in a lawsuit filed by Gov. Scott Walker’s campaign against the Government Accountability Board.

According to the court’s decision, the lawsuit originally filed by the Friends of Scott Walker against the GAB alleged the board was not planning to be aggressive in verifying the legitimacy on recall petitions, such as not striking fictitious names or checking for duplicate names.

Consequently, Waukesha County Judge Mac Davis ordered the GAB to change its review processes, the decision said. However, Davis denied an intervention by recall committees to provide testimony. The recall committees appealed the decision.

The new appeals ruling reversed Davis’ decision. The court ordered the case be sent back to Davis, who will have to hear testimony from recall committees. Davis will then have to issue a new order on the GAB’s responsibilities with regard to verifying the petitions.

GAB spokesperson Reid Magney said the GAB had no comment on the court’s decision at the time but said he will discuss their response at a board meeting Tuesday.

Republican Party of Wisconsin Executive Director Stephan Thompson said in a statement that the GAB has already committed to removing fraudulent and duplicate signatures.

“[Friday’s] appeals court ruling does not invalidate the need for heightened transparency and integrity in this process, and we encourage the GAB to continue its effort to ensure that Wisconsin electors are not treated unfairly in this process,” Thompson said in a statement.

Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesperson Graeme Zielinski called the court’s decision a victory for the recall committees.

He said the decision will make it more difficult to justify the original ruling by Davis.

“This brings some order to the disorder created by the Scott Walker folks who are trying to delay an election he claims he wants to have,” Zielinski said. “This is a pretty definitive decision and it’s going to make it harder to justify the original ruling by Judge Mac Davis.”