Wednesday morning at 9:00am Central Daylight Time, County Clerks in 72 counties across the state of Wisconsin will convene to oversee just the third statewide election “recount” in Badger State history. Kathy Nickolaus, the embattled Waukesha County Clerk, GOP activist, and former colleague of Justice David Prosser during their tenure in the Assembly Republican Caucus fraught with criminal felony charges and corruption, will not be one of them.
The two previous statewide recounts in Wisconsin were carried out in 1989 and, before that, in 1865.
By agreement of both campaigns, just 31 of the 72 counties will see some of their paper ballots counted by hand in the state-sponsored contest of the April 5th Supreme Court election between the incumbent Republican Prosser and his independent challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg. All other ballots are scheduled to be counted once again by the same oft-failed, easily-manipulated machines made by companies like Diebold, ES&S, and Sequoia, which tallied them originally. Each machine-tallied ballot may be examined — though they may not be touched — by representatives of each campaign, prior to being run through the machine again.
Waukesha County — where some 14,000 votes were said to have been discovered by Nickolaus as unreported Election Night — resulting in a subsequent reversal of fortunes for Prosser, and a 7,316 vote lead in the unofficial, unverified vote count — will see all of its paper ballots counted by hand.
Unlike her counterparts in the rest of the state, Nickolaus, who is still under investigation for her actions in this election and several prior, will not oversee that count…
As Milwaukee’s Journal Sentinel reports tonight:
Nickolaus requested to be replaced from overseeing the recount in a letter to County Executive Dan Vrakas, chief of staff Ellen Nowak said Tuesday.
Vrakas appointed retired Circuit Court Judge Robert Mawdsley to oversee the recount.
Nickolaus came under fire after disclosing that she failed to report votes from the City of Brookfield on election night.
…
Nowak said Nickolaus participated in Monday’s planning meeting with the Government Accountability Board, a teleconference held with county clerks statewide, and submitted her letter afterward.
Vrakas appointed Mawdsley that same day. Mawdsley, who was Waukesha County’s corporation counsel before he became a judge in 1988, retired from the bench in December 2009.
…
Nickolaus took herself out of the recount process, Nowak said, in order to avoid the appearance of conflict or to give the candidates the ability to raise objections about her performance in the recount later, “given all the other questions surrounding the election.”
…
Nickolaus will still be present for the recount as the county clerk, Nowak said. She will not serve on the Canvass Board, which includes Democrat Ramona Kitzinger and Republican Pat Karcher.
The statewide recount was requested by Kloppenburg after questions about the Waukesha count emerged, as well as concerns about unusually high undervote rates and anomalies elsewhere in the state, according to her campaign.
“A recount may change the outcome of this election or it may confirm it, but when it is done, a recount will have shed necessary and appropriate light on an election that right now, seems to so many people to be suspect,” Kloppenburg said during her press conference announcing her intention to file a contest last Wednesday.
The Kloppenburg camp has also requested a special investigator be named by Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board (G.A.B.), the state’s top election agency, to look into Nickolaus’ procedures and the still-unexplained reasons for the 14,000 votes said left out of the initial Election Night results in Waukesha.
Though Prosser’s campaign had initially vowed to “take every and any step to prevent” a recount — declaring their 0.488% margin as “decisive” and a recount to be “frivolous” — they have yet to take measures to oppose it.
Both camps are still seeking volunteers to oversee the counts and donations to help fund legal efforts in support of it, though Prosser attorney Jim Troupis has said they are flying in “hundreds” of “attorneys and volunteers…from all over the country.”
By state law, the “recount” must be completed no later than May 9th.
Those interested in volunteering for the Kloppenburg campaign may contact them via email here. Donations may be made to her efforts here.
Those interested in volunteering for Prosser may fill out their web-form here. Donations can be made through his website here.
We must return to exit polling.Also,paper records of votes,tabulations thru final tabulations.Nicolaus had her own software,no other clerk had.The election results from this county is highly suspicious.
“Paper records of votes” are meaningless, unless they’re actually counted publicly and hopefully on election night, Ecoalex. Please see this. And thanks!
true brad, but when we have election fraud, there is larger criminality too – crimes that are either enabled or hidden by stealing elections.
FTA:
So, I wonder how many of those Prosser “attorneys and volunteers…from all over the country” will be coming on the Koch Industries, er, ‘Tea Party’ Express?
people shouldn’t just be asking about/planning to watch count, people should be asking about security of ballots, calling into to question the chain of custody, checking to make sure ballots are originals or copies, asking what kind of security the printed but unused ballots have had…there has been more than enough time for someone to replace new paper ballots but I don’t they could do it without leaving some signs.
I think this recount should be seen as generally shedding light on whole process, not just a ballot viewing…I’d be surprised if the votes didn’t come out consistent with reports, if you going to cheat, and you knew a recount was likely, why would you quit when you are about to be found out, why wouldn’t you mess with ballots or fill out whole new ballots. But that does not mean you can’t uncover things, even if ballot security compromised.
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Make a statement – STOP EATING REPUBLICAN CRAP!
STOP DINING DIRECTLY AT THE KOCH BROTHER’S TAILPIPE! BOYCOTT JOHNSONVILLE FOR LIFE!
Only “31 of the 72 counties” will hand count the ballots.
That is a defect in the WI election system until it becomes “72 of the 72 counties” … just like the other states.
Karen said:
people shouldn’t just be asking about/planning to watch count, people should be asking about security of ballots, calling into to question the chain of custody, checking to make sure ballots are originals or copies, asking what kind of security the printed but unused ballots have had…there has been more than enough time for someone to replace new paper ballots but I don’t they could do it without leaving some signs.
Herein often lies the problem, Karen, at least IMHO. Recounts often are not legislatively or administratively designed as investigations — they often simply proceed as a continuation of the magic show. And citizens have no idea how their elections work, and are bored by the details that they do not understand, so if everything seems okay to them, they lose interest and go do something else.
Meanwhile, if irregularities have been “promulgated” in Wisconsin, the same people who had the ability to be the source of the problems are ON THE CANVASSING BOARDS that oversee the recounts.
Not only are they ON the boards — the clerks CHOOSE the boards.
Wow, how’s that for arms’ length oversight? Now I can sleep at night, because I know that the same people who ran the election got to choose the ones who certified it. They I assume also will “certify” the recount.
I think that the horse is pretty much out of the barn by the time a recount comes around.
Worst post
I give her credit for at least recusing herself from the recount.
I really wonder if its in the people’s best interest to have the local county clerks running the elections. Could we at least have people who pretend to be apolitical run our elections?
DREDD said: “Only ’31 of the 72 counties’ will hand count the ballots. That is a defect in the WI election system until it becomes ’72 of the 72 counties’ … just like the other states.”
While your heart is in the right place, you are laboring under a delusion about how elections are actually carried out in the USA. As Brad repeatedly points out, today most elections in the country are conducted with only a handful of ballots (where there are ballots) counted by human beings — nor are the “results” audited in any way. The WI system is the rule, not the exception.
KAREN said: “if you going to cheat, and you knew a recount was likely, why would you quit when you are about to be found out, why wouldn’t you mess with ballots or fill out whole new ballots. But that does not mean you can’t uncover things, even if ballot security compromised.”
First, in recusing herself from the recount, Nickolaus is in a BETTER position to tamper with ballots — she didn’t resign, she still has access. Second, if there was massive fraud the idea would have been for it to be BIG enough to avoid a recount (due to idiot laws about only examining “close” elections — in other words, only looking for mistakes, not fraud).
Third, as you say foolproof ballot switching is all but impossible: the thief can get the race they are “fixing” right, but then they would screw up all the other results in the process. Except that the idiotic recount laws just about everywhere actually PROHIBIT checking the tallies on other races on the ballot. This makes getting away with the crime a thousand times easier.
In terms of the possibility of ballot switching is there a case of someone going back and looking at all races through an open records request and finding that the results for the periphery races changed thus confirming that ballot switching would be one explanation? I understand the concept but I am really skeptical of the ease to pull it off. There is so much coordination, logistical support and numerous people would have to be involved to pull it off. Seems possibly for local races but much less likely for statewide races. Just curious what evidence exists for this happening in past statewide elections.
http://www.milwaukeenewsbuzz.com/?p=581616
She was not using the approved software to tabulate votes that everyone else used! She was using software made for her by the GAB. Kloppenburg’s campaign asked for a special investigator, arguing the GAB works too closely with county clerks to be impartial. The GAB denied the request.
“Please note that the program Kathy uses IS NOT the new canvass reporting program that is in the (Statewide Voter Registration System) that we all have been using as of late. It is a completely different program that was created by GAB for Kathy to accumulate her votes prior to uploading them into the program that the rest of us use.”
RE:Only “31 of the 72 counties” will hand count the ballots.
If the GAB (Government Accountability Board) had had its way that would have been 0 to 72 counties.
Randy D,
Yep, the obvious is wisdom to a lot of us these ‘daze’ …
A solid grasp of the obvious must be at a peak.
Shall we call it Peak Obvious?
Only “31 of the 72 counties” will hand count the ballots.
That is a defect in the WI election system until it becomes “72 of the 72 counties” … just like the other states.
That is a defect in the [insert any state] election system until it becomes “72 of the 72 counties”
‘splainin’ the obvious …
Tony @ 13 – YES, in fact, there *is*. While inconclusive (we never could get to the source of the moving numbers), I have several gobsmacking videos I put together for Bev Harris during her ground-breaking investigations of the *crazy* 2008 New Hampshire Recount (where they hand counted the ballots).
NH REPUBLICAN RECOUNT 1a/ Ballot Irregularities: SEQUENCING
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPLFhCq1XnA
NH REPUBLICAN RECOUNT 1b/ Ballot Irregularities: GROUPING
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUBvT2XM2AM
And most damning – in fact this video (not filmed by me – check out this non-random grouping sequence from the absentees:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaApbwlXqsg
Finally – the video that still haunts us:
NH RECOUNT/ Manchester Ward 5: MORE VOTES THAN VOTERS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYz9O_SvIJI
…sorry, my computer is acting up. Meant to add that the third video (1d) is the most damning evidence of ballot tampering I’ve ever seen caught on film.
Oh, and three of the above videos were all filmed ON DAY 1 of the recount.
(And I *highly* recommend Bev Harris’ hilarious and freaky videos of chasing the state employees driving the ballots, “Butch” and “Hoppy” all over rural NH trying to follow the WONKY chain of custody procedures. The reason, imho, the ballots came up all sequential like they did…in diff ballot boxes, etc, was because Bev was giving chase. Everyone should check out those videos…they are wildly entertaining. Think Key Stone Cops meets Erin Brockovich.)
A playlist of those videos is cached on YOUTUBE here:
http://www.youtube.com/my_playl...CEABC09579F656
and on Facebook, here:
http://www.facebook.com/video/?...97815633590513
Oh, and for anyone interested in following / posting relevant WI RECOUNT INFO as it’s breaking, please feel free to visit our OPEN EI FB Group page, here:
http://www.facebook.com/home.ph...13&ref=ts
We have several Kloppenburg Recount workers from WAUKESHA CO. over there who will be posting updates through out the day…and they are FEISTY as HELL!
Hey Brad, wondered if you had seen this:
http://www.milwaukeenewsbuzz.com/?p=581616
[i]”Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus was using a software program created especially for her by the state Government Accountability Board when she made the huge error in compiling results for the State Supreme Court race between incumbent David Prosser and challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg. The special program was revealed in an email sent to other county clerks and released by the Kloppenburg campaign to buttress her claim that an independent investigation of Nickolaus’ office is needed.”[/i]
Sloppy wet kisses as always and give ’em hell.
Brad –
A ‘cahin of custody problem’ today with a bag of ballots in Waukesha County (specifically the town of Delafield)
http://www.politiscoop.com/comp...ha-county.html
I went to the GAB’s web site to check the spreadsheet they had up last night with yesterday’s results, because 10000 for Delafield sounded high, and their spreadsheet tonight is all messed up.
Anyway, FYI.
Robert –
Yes. Thanks. Had indeed seen it. Trying to look at that, and a number of other things, trying to make sense of what is going on there. As usual, I try to be very careful with this stuff. So looking at a lot of stuff, and will report when I’ve got some concrete (or close to it.)
I’ve been wondering why Nickolaus came up with less than enough votes to avoid a recount, if she was trying to illegally swing the election. I thought maybe a larger number would be too inconsistent with statewide voting patterns.
I came up with some interesting numbers. It seems that people over the age of 18 in the City of Brookfield (the city who’s votes were originally not counted) voted at a rate of about 50%, while the statewide rate among people over 18 was about 0.3%.
My bad: I just ran the numbers again.
Adults in the City of Brookfield voted at a rate of 49.5%. Adults in Wisconsin voted at a rate of 34.5%, not O.3%. Still quite a disparity. Something else that does not seem right is that the 14,000 votes from Brookfield represent 0.9% of the original statewide vote, not the 5 point swing the Brookfield votes created.
Can someone explain this?
Here is my methodology:
Per the U.S. Census Bureau:
WI Population, 2009 estimate: 5,654,774
WI persons under 18: 23.2%
Brookfield, WI population: 38,649
Brookfield, WI population under 18: 26.8%
Per the WI Secretary of State:
Total votes cast for Justice of the Supreme Court, pending recount: 1,498,880
Per various media reports:
Nickolaus failed to report votes from the City of Brookfield numbering 14,000 that consequently shifted the election by close to 5%.
Extrapolating,
Adult population of WI is 76.8% of 5,654,774 which is 4,342,287.
Total votes cast for Justice/Adult population of WI=% of WI adults who voted for Justice: 34.5%
Adult population of Brookfield is 73.2% of 38,649 which is 28,291.
Total votes cast for Justice, not reported on election night/Adult population of Brookfield=% of adults who voted for Justice: 49.5%.
Total votes cast for Justice-votes not originally reported from Brookfield=Original WI vote count: 1,484,880.
Votes not originally reported from Brookfield/Original WI vote count=% of WI votes from Brookfield: 0.9%
Ok, I went over it again and found impossibilities.
More important than adult voters are registered voters. Per the GAB, Brookfield had 6,391 registered voters as of 7/1/09. How can 14,000 votes from Brookfield be explained?
Also, 14,000 votes, to create a 7,000+ vote lead, or nearly 5% would mean the 14,000 votes were around 10% of the state vote. I come up with 0.9%. How can this be?
Ha! Hi, Paul! Great eye. As it turns out, the gab has had some REAL issues with their accounting. Richard Charnin (posts here as TRUTH IS ALL) has a spreadsheet for WI RECOUNT numbers that is gonna. blow. your. mind.
While I can’t speak to this particular anomaly you are pointing to, (I’m mathematically challenged)Richard’s spreadsheet is a dream to navigate for folks just as clueless as me.
You, are clearly not in the same category.
Try plugging in your numbers, here:
http://richardcharnin.com/WIVoteCounts
…will be interested to hear what you think.
Also, Paul – feel free to join us at STEVE FREEMAN’s Election Integrity Facebook page, where we’re combing through the data, here:
http://www.facebook.com/editpro...97815633590513
And thank you, Paul, for watching the count and NOTICING the impossible math.
hi paul,
first let me say ty for looking @ the numbers…my first question on ur comment is are u sure u r not getting city of brookfield mixed up with town of brookfeild?as far as the census/gab registered voters report?
second question or comment,im not a percentage guru but i think 14,000 is 10 % of 140,000 not the 1.4 mill plus voters
im not saying any of this to discourage u, but everything with our math has to be peer reviewed so dbl check on the city versus town and i hope to see u at jeanies ei group
Thanks for the responses Jeannie and Karen. I’ll look at those web pages more closely when I get a chance.
Karen is right, I was looking at the Town of Brookfield. Also, the 10% was wrong, and the 0.9% I had makes sense because Prosser led by close to 0.5%, not 5%.
So, Brookfield had a turnout of 52.0% compared to 43.2% statewide. A higher turnout in Brookfield makes sense because it is quite a bit older and more affluent than the state as a whole.
It would be interesting to know the percentage of Democrats vs. Republicans in Brookfield. Apparently you have to pay for data from the Statewide Voter Registration System, so I couldn’t get it from the state without paying.
The only advantage to intentionally withholding votes would be if Nickolaus feared a Democratic majority would further tip the vote to Kloppenburg.
Brad,
Jeannie has been trying to send you this with no luck. So here goes.
http://richardcharnin.com/WIVoteCounts