Chad-Gate Again? No, Just Human Error: Wisconsin Supreme Court Election Upended, Prosser Wins!

A few days ago I received an email from someone in Wisconsin telling me that the vote for Wisconsin supreme court justice would be close and to get out the vote for David Prosser who was widely believed to be supportive of Governor Scott Walker and his anti public-union stance.

Unfortunately, I did not see that email until the election was over.

Prosser lost by a mere 204 votes to Assistant Attorney General Joanne Kloppenburg whose policies as best as I can tell are unknown.

I do not know how many Wisconsin readers I have or what their political affiliations are, but I suspect a simple post from me reminding people to vote may have brought in 200-300 votes minimum.

Voter turnout was something on the order of 20%.

Thus I have been kicking myself for several days for not seeing that email and in general for not paying attention to how close that election might be.

Tonight that changed.

Corrected tally in Waukesha County gives Prosser 7,500-vote edge

Instead of losing by 204 votes, it seems Prosser actually won. Please consider Corrected tally in Waukesha County gives Prosser 7,500-vote edge

In one explosive stroke Thursday, the clerk in a Republican stronghold tilted the tight Supreme Court race in favor of Justice David Prosser by recovering thousands of untallied votes for the incumbent.

Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus said Thursday that she failed to save on her computer and then report 14,315 votes in the city of Brookfield, omitting them entirely in an unofficial total she released after Tuesday's election. With other smaller errors in Waukesha County, Prosser gained 7,582 votes over his challenger, JoAnne Kloppenburg, leaving the sitting justice significantly ahead for now amid ongoing official counting.

"I'm thankful that this error was caught early in the process. This is not a case of extra ballots being found. This is human error which I apologize for," Nickolaus said, her voice wavering as she spoke to reporters.

The figures are still far from final in a race that had previously seemed almost certain to see a statewide recount. Around the state, elections officials Thursday were tweaking unofficial results from the day before that had put Kloppenburg, an assistant attorney general, ahead of Prosser by a razor-thin 204 votes.

But nothing compared to Brookfield, where the new totals give 10,859 more votes to Prosser and 3,456 more to Kloppenburg.

"I'm encouraged by the various reports from the county canvasses," Prosser said in a statement. "We've always maintained faith in the voters and trust the election officials involved in the canvassing will reaffirm the lead we've taken."

Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca (D-Kenosha) raised the possibility of an independent investigation over the recovery of the votes.

But at the news conference with Nickolaus, Ramona Kitzinger, the Democrat on the Waukesha County Board of Canvassers, said: "We went over everything and made sure all the numbers jibed up and they did. Those numbers jibed up, and we're satisfied they're correct."

As a Democrat, she said, "I'm not going to stand here and tell you something that's not true."

Waukesha County Executive Dan Vrakas, who sat in on Nickolaus' news conference, said voters can be confident in the results because "all the votes are in that office. If anyone wants to look at them and verify, they can."

Schmidt, the Brookfield clerk, said she watched the news conference. Does she buy Nickolaus' explanation?

"Yeah, I do. I understand those kinds of things can happen," she said, adding, "I was disappointed I was not informed. I should not have been informed through the news agencies, kind as you people all are."

Democrats Certify Process

This is not "Chad-Gate" revisited.

Reading the above article, especially with Democrats verifying the results, I do not think there was vote fraud or a stolen election.

For the record, I think Bush may have stolen Florida. At best, we do not know because there was no recount.

I always want an honest vote. I think we have one, and Prosser won.

Galling Email

Shortly after the election I received a galling email from "Bold Progressives"

I have no freaking idea how I got on their email list, but it is always worthwhile to see what progressive clowns think. Here is that email.

Mike,

BREAKING NEWS: We did it!! Together, progressives defeated Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker�s choice for state Supreme Court -- and won back the "swing" vote that could soon decide whether Walker�s anti-worker bill is illegal.

The margin was 204 votes! And in the last week, members of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy for America made 96,945 phone calls to targeted voters through our "Call Out The Vote" program.

Now we have to finish the job. When we win the upcoming recall elections against Republicans in Wisconsin it will have ripple effects across the nation -- showing that working families will hold Republicans accountable for their war on the middle class.

We're increasing our pro-recall TV ad buy in Wisconsin today to keep up the pressure, and we will keep going as long as folks keep chipping in $3. You can see our ad and donate here.

Or, click here to listen to the special briefing we just held with "Wisconsin 14" senators Mark Miller and Chris Larson -- where they talk about yesterday's election and the recall fight ahead.

Today, we achieved a huge victory. Thanks for being part of it �- and for being a bold progressive.

Mish a "Bold Progressive" - Now that's pretty funny.

If Prosser wins, which now seems likely, I can stop kicking myself, sort-of. I still blame myself for not following the election more closely, and the above email shows exactly why.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com
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