"Reporting Error" corrects outcome of Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

[CarltonBanks]

I will say this, if the shoe were on the other foot and a Democrat mysteriously netted a +7,500 votes the right would be screaming bloody murder. That being said, it does seem like this was a legitimate mistake. However, the error put Prosser firmly in the lead over Kloppenburg. I guess the woman in charge of reporting the election returns to the Associated Press was using an old program on her computer and, somewhow, failed to report the votes for an entire town in her report to the press on election night. During the official count this mistake was discovered, turning Kloppenberg's slim 204-vote into an advantage of over 7,500 for Prosser. Just what this election needed...some kind of controversey.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/07/david-prosser-wisconsin-supreme-court_n_846431.html

 

[ifilus]

Re: "Reporting Error" changes outcome of Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

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."

 

[NoOneLikesUs]

Re: "Reporting Error" changes outcome of Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

This needs investigated, but I'm not sure anything is there. It's probably incompetence and it would be refreshing if she resigned for ****ing up one of her main duties as clerk.

 

[CarltonBanks]

Re: "Reporting Error" changes outcome of Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

This needs investigated, but I'm not sure anything is there. It's probably incompetence and it would be refreshing if she resigned for ****ing up one of her main duties as clerk.

Absolutely...the appearance of impropriety is reason enough for her to resign, regardless of what an investigation uncovers.

 

[ifilus]

Re: "Reporting Error" changes outcome of Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

If you were to pick the one person most likely to commit election fraud in the state of Wisconsin, it would be Kathy Nickolaus, the Waukesha county clerk. She had opportunity, motive, and a history of ethical violations. According to the AP, "Nickolaus was given immunity from prosecution in a 2002 criminal investigation into illegal activity by members of the assembly Republican Caucus."

She is a former staffer for the Wisconsin Assembly Republican caucus, a donor to Republican candidates, and she is the clerk for the reddest county in Wisconsin.

She had also been warned that her secretive hoarding of information invited fraud, yet she apparently scoffed at the internal audit that was ordered by the county board recently and did not cooperate.


http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/04/07/964573/-No-Evidence-of-Fraud,-but

 

[NoOneLikesUs]

Re: "Reporting Error" changes outcome of Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

Nate Silver breaks it down...looks like incompetence

 

[old_tony]

Re: "Reporting Error" changes outcome of Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

Never mind that the vice chair of the county's Democrat Party confirmed that everything was on the up-and-up with the correction.

 

[CarltonBanks]

Re: "Reporting Error" changes outcome of Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

She simply had the results on a personal computer to give the numbers to the media. What she had on her computer had nothing to do with the actual voting...that is what the canvass is for. During the canvass they found the discrepancy, the one between the actual numbers and what was reported to the media, and adjusted their numbers. It does not matter what party this woman belongs to...she had nothing "official" on her personal computer and, besides, I have never heard of someone trying to help a candidate by under-reporting the votes cast for said candidate.
That being said, even though it is pretty clear this was nothing but an irresponsible Clerk, the should not remain in her position one day longer. This kind of error is inexcusable...especially in a situation like this.

 

[93Devil]

Re: "Reporting Error" changes outcome of Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

Sounds like she Koched the books.

How many votes is she responsible for? If she was missing 10,000 out of 250,000 you can see it getting lost in the shuffle. How if she only tallies 20,000 votes, missing 10,000 should send up a huge red flag.

There is smoke here.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Re: "Reporting Error" changes outcome of Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

Nate Silver breaks it down...looks like incompetence

Journal-Sentinel wrote it up in a more readable manner than Silver. (I know that's blasphemy, but that Silver article is TMI with the numbers and the somewhat indecipherable graphics.) The adjusted vote totals fall very much in line with the historical averages of that county. If you believe Florida 2000 was all messed up because of the 6,000 voters in Palm Beach County who went Buchanan's way, you have to look at these numbers and conclude that there isn't a conspiracy here, just good old-fashioned stupidity.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/119476004.html

 

[CarltonBanks]

Re: "Reporting Error" changes outcome of Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

Sounds like she Koched the books.

How many votes is she responsible for? If she was missing 10,000 out of 250,000 you can see it getting lost in the shuffle. How if she only tallies 20,000 votes, missing 10,000 should send up a huge red flag.

There is smoke here.

There is nothing here. How could she manipulate anything, especially when she had nothing official in her possession? Like Tony said, the vice chair of the Democrats...who was a part of the canvass...said there was simply an error in what was reported and now the numbers from the county are legitimate. She said she wanted the truth to come out and did not want to push a talking point that was not true. So where is the smoke?

 

[BadgerBeer]

Re: "Reporting Error" changes outcome of Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

There is no doubt that this was just an example of incompetence by an individual. However, one can only imagine the outcry from the right if 14,000 votes were found in inner city Milwaukee. ACORN, Black Panthers, Busloads of Illinois people, dead people voting, multiple voters, Kenyan Clones of Mooslim Obama. The possibilities are endless.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Re: "Reporting Error" changes outcome of Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

She should be fired by the end of the day.

 

[CarltonBanks]

Re: "Reporting Error" changes outcome of Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

There is no doubt that this was just an example of incompetence by an individual. However, one can only imagine the outcry from the right if 14,000 votes were found in inner city Milwaukee. ACORN, Black Panthers, Busloads of Illinois people, dead people voting, multiple voters, Kenyan Clones of Mooslim Obama. The possibilities are endless.

Absolutely, which is what I said in my first post. The right would be screaming from here to Madison had this happened in the other direction. And rightfully so because in an election this emotional, for something like this to happen really has the potential for some very hard feelings as well as some very irrational activity.

 

[Brooklyn Bridge]

Re: "Reporting Error" changes outcome of Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

There is no doubt that this was just an example of incompetence by an individual. However, one can only imagine the outcry from the right if 14,000 votes were found in inner city Milwaukee. ACORN, Black Panthers, Busloads of Illinois people, dead people voting, multiple voters, Kenyan Clones of Mooslim Obama. The possibilities are endless.

Absolutely, which is what I said in my first post. The right would be screaming from here to Madison had this happened in the other direction. And rightfully so because in an election this emotional, for something like this to happen really has the potential for some very hard feelings as well as some very irrational activity.

"Forgetting" to count the second largest city in your area is a pretty big case of incompetence. She should resign, but won't. This is the one thing that pisses me off about government employees--someone screws up and they get to keep their jobs. Happens from the local police department to D.C.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Re: "Reporting Error" changes outcome of Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

I find it truly amazing that with all of the technology we have available to us that some places still have paper ballots.

I think it sounds like a legitimate error. They showed a clip of the woman on one of the news shows this morning and she looked like she was on the verge of opening her wrists.

I voted on a touchscreen in 2000. The city where I lived at the time was one that they were using as a test to see how it worked. It was the easiest, most convenient way I've ever voted and every time I've voted since it was using a marker to connect a line on a piece of paper.

 

[RickStain]

Re: "Reporting Error" changes outcome of Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

Not only did she screw this up, but she'd been feuding with election authorities who were trying to get her to stop using an outdated system which she insisted was fine.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Re: "Reporting Error" changes outcome of Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

I find it truly amazing that with all of the technology we have available to us that some places still have paper ballots.

I think it sounds like a legitimate error. They showed a clip of the woman on one of the news shows this morning and she looked like she was on the verge of opening her wrists.

I voted on a touchscreen in 2000. The city where I lived at the time was one that they were using as a test to see how it worked. It was the easiest, most convenient way I've ever voted and every time I've voted since it was using a marker to connect a line on a piece of paper.

I used to be on that side until I saw ...

http://www.hackingdemocracy.com/

This is the documentary that aired on HBO that shows just how fallible and easy to manipulate those voting machines are. Add in the political tinge -- such as the head of Diebold, one of the leading manufacturers, saying before the 2004 election that he was "committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year -- and there are as many or more flaws in this new approach as there are with the old.

 

[ifilus]

Re: "Reporting Error" changes outcome of Wisconsin Supreme Court Election


Interesting that the 7,500 'found' votes neatly covers the .05% margin of victory for Prosser that would require the Kloppenburg campaign, rather than the state, to pay for the cost of the recount.

 

[RickStain]

Re: "Reporting Error" changes outcome of Wisconsin Supreme Court Election

"Interesting" is one way of putting it. "Almost certainly coincidental" would be another.