Blue Mass Group

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Election Upset: David Prosser Wins After Gaining 7,500 Votes

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So instead of a recount, we can now look forward to an investigation.

UPDATE: 9:05 p.m. — Statement from the Kloppenburg campaign manager Melissa Mulliken:

Wisconsin voters as well as the Kloppenburg for Justice Campaign deserve a full explanation of how and why these 14,000 votes from an entire City were missed. To that end, we will be filing open records requests for all relevant documentation related to the reporting of election results in Waukesha County, as well as to the discovery and reporting of the errors announced by the County. We are confident that election officials in Waukesha County will fulfill these requests as quickly as possible so that both our campaign and the people of Wisconsin can fully understand what happened and why. Just as Assistant Attorney General Kloppenburg has run to restore confidence in the court, Wisconsin residents also deserve to have full confidence in election results.

Statement from Prosser:

I’m encouraged by the various reports from the county canvases. Our confidence is high, and we will continue to monitor with optimism, and believe that the positive results will hold. We’ve always maintained faith in the voters and trust the election officials involved in the canvasing will reaffirm the lead we’ve taken.

UPDATE: 9:17 p.m. — For 13 years, Nickolaus worked for the Wisconsin State Assembly Republican Caucus as a data analyst and computer specialist. She resigned in May 2002. [AP, 6/3/02]

From 1989-1994, Prosser served as Minority Leader. From 1995-1996, he was Speaker. Nickolaus was a staff member during this time. As Wisconsin State Journal reporter Mary Spicuzza noted on Twitter, “Kathy Nickolaus worked for Assembly Republican Caucus when Prosser was Speaker. Caucus is controlled by speaker, so he is her former boss.”

UPDATE: 9:45 p.m. — The Wisconsin State Journal reports:

In 2001, Nickolaus was granted immunity to testify about her role as a computer analyst for the Assembly Republican Caucus, then under investigation — along with the Senate Republican Caucus and the Democratic caucuses for both houses — for using state resources to secretly run campaigns.

Nickolaus, a seven-year employee of the ARC, headed up an effort to develop a computer program that averaged the performance of Republicans in statewide races by ward.

UPDATE: 9:49 p.m.– Statement from state Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D):

The way Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus revealed her discovery of 14,300 previously uncounted votes raises disturbing questions, particularly in light of her past partisan history. She has been the subject of multiple complaints from other Waukesha officials on how she handles elections and keeps public information to herself outside the official county system where others can verify it.

The new Supreme Court race vote totals she “discovered” during canvassing not only swung the election but also put the race just barely past the amount needed to trigger a state-financed recount.

It is especially troubling that she waited more than 24 hours to report the startling discovery and then did so at a press conference and only after she verified the results. This makes it all the harder to challenge and audit the integrity of the vote.

The partisan, political history of Ms. Nickolaus and the serious concerns about the quality of her performance found in an audit raises the question of whether an investigation is warranted. The public deserves to know that the votes were counted properly.

Statement from state Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller (D):

It stretches the bounds of credibility to think that over 14,300 votes were somehow “overlooked” until two days after the election.

Based on the partisan, political history of Ms. Nickolaus and the serious concerns that have been raised, by other Waukesha County officials, about the quality of her election administration and the possibility for fraud, an independent investigation of her conduct and the county’s election results is not just warranted but urgently demanded to protect the integrity of our electoral system in Wisconsin.

UPDATE: 10:22 p.m. — The group Citizen Action of Wisconsin is calling for an immediate federal investigation and impoundment of all computer equipment, ballots, and other relevant evidence needed to verify a fair vote count in Waukesha County.

“Given the shocking character of this afternoon’s revelations, and its tremendous importance for the perceived integrity of Wisconsin’s governmental institutions, it is absolutely essential that there be a full investigation which is so beyond reproach that all Wisconsin citizens can have faith in the validity of the outcome,” said Robert Kraig, executive director of Citizen Action. “In the current political climate in Wisconsin, only an investigation by a U.S. Attorney can be seen by all citizens of the state as independent and above politics.”

What would a positive outcome lool like?

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Comments

  2. but let’s hope that folks refrain from the nasties until some factfinding occurs.

    • At a minimum the clerk is guilty of monumental incompetence. She should lose her job.

      <

      p>I sure hope they have paper ballots to recount in that county, because otherwise I don’t see how anyone can have any confidence in the legitimacy of the results.

      <

      p>  

  3. Sure, let’s REALLY look at the vote.  Let’s compare registered voter lists with ballots cast, polling place by polling place.

    <

    p>Let’s scrutinize voter rolls and determine eligibility, town by town.

    <

    p>I suspect there is rampant fraud, but it is on the Kloppenburg side of the ledger, thanks to the efforts of state and national labor union efforts.  And their money.  And panicking progressives.

    <

    p>Walker made a big mistake by not reforming the fraud-inducing voting laws in Wisconsin the instant he took office.  Perhaps a thorough, post-election once over will expose the rampant voter ineligibility: felons, non-resident students, out-of-staters, multiple-voters, perhaps the dead.

    <

    p>No doubt they should implement requiring IDs.

    • Students going to school in WI have every right to vote there, whether you define them as “residents” or not.

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      p>The Supreme Court has decided this issue unequivocally. So when you claim that that constitutes voter fraud, you make it obvious that you have no idea what voter fraud is.  

    • Do you have any evidence that any of this has happened anywhere in the country in the past 20 or so years?
      No? Then shut up.

      <

      p>I suggest you read this report, for example: (PDF)
      http://www.demos.org/pubs/Anal…

      <

      p>Here are some conclusions:

       
      • Voter fraud appears to be very rare in the 12 states examined in that report. Legal and news records turned up little evidence of significant fraud in these states or any indication that fraud is more than a minor problem. Interviews with state officials further confirmed this impression.
      • Notable election reforms of the past 10 to 15 years-such as the NVRA, more permissive absentee balloting rules, all mail-in voting in Oregon, and the enactment of Election Day Registration in several more states-have not facilitated voter fraud.
      • Analysis of several cases of election fraud that have received significant attention in recent years suggests that some of the most notable allegations of fraud have proved to be baseless.

    • There’s this helpful thing called “evidence” that helps to build “proof” of certain phenomena. Say, for example, you want to prove the phenomenon of “vote fraud.” What you would do is collect this “evidence” and present it for public review. This public review helps to determine how well this “evidence” helps to “prove” the underlying phenomena in question.

      <

      p>It’s a pretty good system. It prevents statements like this:

      <

      p>

      I suspect there is rampant fraud, but it is on the Kloppenburg side of the ledger, thanks to the efforts of state and national labor union efforts.

      <

      p>that are not based on any “evidence” whatsoever.

      <

      p>So, that’s my advice. You too may find that “evidence” helps you in your daily life as well!

  4. But let’s remember that potential motive for fraud (the Clerk is a Republican, and this helps Prosser avoid a recount) is not the same as fraud. There should be full disclosure of all information, but it’s certainly possible that this really was just human error.

    <

    p>Never underestimate the power of incompetence.

    • This brings the vote total of the city in question in line with the surrounding area.   I think it’s just massive, almost criminal incompetence, rather than an anti-democratic impulse.

  5. is are the number of votes in the pre and post “found error” vote count within the expected range for the county. Did the sudden location of these votes bring Waukesha to a higher level of voting than might normally have been expected? Also, is the range of votes for the candidates consistent to exit polls, and actual counts for similar districts around the state? In other words, is this just a sad last second loss for the challenger, or are the results an outlier that makes questioning it a reasonable response?

    • See http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.n…

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      p>He concludes that this is incompetence, not a conspiracy.

      <

      p>As a liberal, I am a seeker after truth, with no blinding ideology.  That is what “reality-based” means.  Though the results are heart breaking for anyone who does not want us to become a plutocracy, it appears that Nate (for whom I have great respect) is probably correct.  Apparently this time the Koch brothers have prevailed, assisted by Fox “News” (aka Ministry of Truth) and Hate Radio.

      <

      p>Full disclosure: I have a daughter in Madison who is a librarian in the University Library system and a member of her public employee union.  I am proud of how she has participated in the protests of the Republican’s outrageous war on the middle class.

      • …even if it is incompetence this particular clerk seems to have a disturbingly long rap sheet for such incompetence.

    • results for the remainder of the County 64% – 36%

      <

      p>newly found ballots:
      76% – 24%

      <

      p>Election Results of Brookfield
      Justice of the Supreme Court  
      Candidate Name Votes  
      David T. Prosser Jr. 10,859  
      Joanne F. Kloppenburg 3,456  

      <

      p> Circuit Court Judge Branch 3  
      Candidate Name Votes  
      Ralph M. Ramirez 8905  

      <

      p> Circuit Court Judge Branch 4  
      Candidate Name Votes  
      Lloyd V. Carter 8201  
      Kathy Stilling 4154  

      <

      p> Circuit Court Judge Branch 11  
      Candidate Name Votes  
      William Domina 8762  

      <

      p> County Executive  
      Candidate Name Votes  
      Daniel P. Vrakas 9815  

      <

      p> Alderperson District 4
      Candidate Name Votes  
      Buck Jurken 1294  

      <

      p> Elmbrook School Board Member, Area I Seat  
      Candidate Name Votes  
      Ken Moe 4682  
      Richard Brunner 5175  

      <

      p> Elmbrook School Board Member, Area III Seat  
      Candidate Name Votes  
      Tom Gehl 8713  

      <

      p> Elmbrook School Board Member, At-Large Seat  
      Candidate Name Votes  
      Kathryn L. Wilson 5608  
      Sandra Schultz 4418  
      Write-in – Nancy Kormanik 38  

      <

      p>Doesn’t prove anything or clear anything up. Does give a few indications on where to begin the investigation. Due to the circumstances it deserves an independent investigation to assure voters, the same as a close election deserves an automatic recount.
      Worst outcomes:
      3. Democrat loss
      2. Finding evidence of fraudulent election
      1. Never verifying what happened.

      <

      p>  

      • should be able to swear “so help me God” with her hand on a Bible and affirm that she honestly made this mistake.

        <

        p>What would it profit her to gain an election if she were to lose her soul?

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