BREAKING: Computer Error Gives Prosser 7,381 More Votes, Almost Certain Victory
The Corner -- National Review Online ^ | 04/07/11 | Christian Schneider
nationalreview.com
After Tuesday night’s Wisconsin Supreme Court election, a computer error in heavily Republican Waukesha County failed to send election results for the entire City of Brookfield to the Associated Press. The error, revealed today, would give incumbent Supreme Court Justice David Prosser a net 7,381 votes against his challenger, attorney Joanne Kloppenburg. On Wednesday, Kloppenburg declared victory after the AP reported she finished the election with a 204-vote lead, out of nearly 1.5 million votes cast.
On election night, AP results showed a turnout of 110,000 voters in Waukesha County — well short of the 180,000 voters that turned out last November, and 42 percent of the county’s total turnout. By comparison, nearly 90 percent of Dane County voters who cast a ballot in November turned out to vote for Kloppenburg.
Prior to the election, Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus was heavily criticized for her decision to keep the county results on an antiquated personal computer, rather than upgrade to a new data system being utilized statewide. Nickolaus cited security concerns for keeping the data herself — yet when she reported the data, it did not include the City of Brookfield, whose residents cast nearly 14,000 votes.
Throughout the day Thursday, official canvass numbers flipped the lead back and forth between Prosser and Kloppenburg. While many believed a recount was inevitable, the addition of the Brookfield votes for Prosser could push the justice’s lead beyond the legal threshold that would trigger an automatic recount. Under state law, Kloppenburg could still ask for a recount up to three days after the official canvass, but would have to pay for it herself.
COMMENTS
Ed in Cary
04/07/11 17:41
Of course, the Dems have contingency plans to steal it no matter how many votes Prosser has.
Baines
04/07/11 17:38
Is there any better example of the hopeless incompetence of government than the fact that we are completely unable to count votes in an accurate and timely manner?
MFK Fisherman
04/07/11 17:35
Do you think AP hoped to engineer a Prosser concession in the face of Kloppenberg declaring victory in reliance on the AP numbers reported on election eve? That seems journalistic malpractice of the highest sort. But, sadly, to my cynical self, not out of the question.
rr528
04/07/11 17:34
I have to say, I'm not surprised to hear this.
On election night, I followed the returns very closely at the AP website. At around midnight, Waukesha County, which had 140 of 198 precincts reporting, suddenly went to 198 of 198 - with NO CHANGE IN THE VOTE TOTAL.
My immediate reaction was, "Huh?! How do you have 58 empty precincts in an URBAN county?"
Now we see... |
