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Clerk Kathy Nickolaus’ Fuzzy Math Doesn’t Add Up in Wisconsin Race
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Clerk Kathy Nickolaus’ Fuzzy Math Doesn’t Add Up in Wisconsin Race was written by Sarah Jones for PoliticusUSA.
© PoliticusUSA, Apr. 8th, 2011. All Rights Reserved
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182 Responses to Clerk Kathy Nickolaus’ Fuzzy Math Doesn’t Add Up in Wisconsin Race
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Donna
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 8:26 pm
Access is a database. You do not have to “save” the data. It does real time updating.
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Marie
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 11:47 pm
I have also worked with Access and yes, it saves…
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C. Curd
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 3:16 pm
I can see a bumper sticker now: “Jesus Saves, and So Does Microsoft Access”
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SouchWid
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 8:08 pm
Sign me up for that bumper sticker.
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Morgan
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 1:35 am
Indeed. I’ve several years of experience working with Windows networking and office systems, and since the introduction of Access, there has never been a version that required “saving”. All data is updated immediately after being entered.
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Fergus
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 10:23 am
Access is like Jesus – it saves.
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Diana
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 5:36 pm
LOL. I like that.
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Ihatepolitics61
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 9:37 pm
So do I…lol
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Craig
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 11:38 am
Golden!
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btm018
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 11:59 am
Craig Gilbert of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel analyzes the numbers with far more accurate comparisons than provided here (as well as avoiding jumping to conclusions).
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/119519294.html
As a political scientist, I have to say that your analysis makes a faulty comparison to the overall (average) state turnout rate since districts vary in voter turnout based upon key factors such as economic status (especially property values), level of education, and race. You need a more accurate comparison to, say, Dane County (Madison), which Gilbert makes.
Be clear, I see reasons for distrust and suspicion, but I’m willing to say it’s not because of this set of numbers.
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URwhatiswrong
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 7:13 pm
Why are you “willing” to say that? Preparing to be called up as an “expert” witness?
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James Louloudes
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 12:09 am
You might want to analyze the numbers using http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benford’s_law you may fine her selection in the winning numbers somewhat interesting
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James Louloudes
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 12:13 am
In 1972, Hal Varian suggested that the law could be used to detect possible fraud in lists of socio-economic data submitted in support of public planning decisions. Based on the plausible assumption that people who make up figures tend to distribute their digits fairly uniformly, a simple comparison of first-digit frequency distribution from the data with the expected distribution according to Benford’s law ought to show up any anomalous results.[6] Following this idea, Mark Nigrini showed that Benford’s law could be used as an indicator of accounting and expenses fraud.[7] In the United States, evidence based on Benford’s law is legally admissible in criminal cases at the federal, state, and local levels.[8]
Benford’s law has been invoked as evidence of fraud in the 2009 Iranian elections.[9] However, other experts consider Benford’s law essentially useless as a statistical indicator of election fraud in general.[10]
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Dave Cleinman
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 2:02 am
Not only does Access automatically save, which it does, shouldn’t there be a second vote counter working? The whole thing is just too strange to be believable.
I’m also struck by the cavalier way people are choosing to destroy our democracy just because of a party affiliation. It’s sickening and heartbreaking, and somehow I think money is involved somewhere.
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Todd Phillips
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 9:24 pm
OMG, I just found 25,000 votes for Tom Barrett in my computer. I forgot to his “save!”
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Paul
Apr. 11th, 2011 at 2:27 pm
If you’re inputting directly into a table or into a form bound to a table, yes, Access auotsaves. If you’re inputting into a form that’s not bound to a table, it nay be necessary to hit a SAVE button on the form. I’ve set up Access databases that require manual saving; it depends on the user’s and the DB’s nneds.
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Scott Rose
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 8:30 pm
Of Brookfield voters, how many are registered Rs, how many registered Ds, how many independents, and how do those registration numbers compare to these alleged vote percentages? Are only 25% of registered voters there Democrats?
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Jim Rosenberg
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 9:30 pm
Wisconsin voters don’t register as Republican, Democrat or Independent. They just register as voters.
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Thomas Bishop
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 9:55 pm
That’s correct. I looked for that, too.
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Scott Rose
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 10:09 pm
I now see, it’s true, Wisconsin voters do not register by party. One might however look at Brookfield’s voting history over the past decade or so. Does it generally follow a 75/25 split in favor of Republicans? Or anything even near that divide? In other words, is this split in favor of a Republican-leaning judge a huge deviation from Brookfield’s general voting patterns?
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robin
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 10:46 pm
I just want to ask how many votes were cast in Brookfield in the last elections? Do these numbers correspond?
This is so depressing and infuriating.
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Sarah Jones
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 11:28 pm
A Waukesha City Deputy Clerk said at 1:18pm that turnout was very typical, predicting somewhere between 20 to 25 percent. In April 2009, turnout was 20 percent; April 2008, turnout was 22 percent and in April 2007, turnout was 24 percent.
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Mike
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 8:38 am
The votes were reported at the local level, just not the state level. these numbers were posted BEFORE she realized they were missing, and they happen to match up, because the person that told her these numbers also put them here. WI is very complex for elections, we have 20% of the country’s election clerks. No Fraud, just incompetence.
http://www.riehlworldview.com/carnivorous_conservative/2011/04/brookfield-city-results-were-reported-accurately-on-election-night.html
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Natalie
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 7:21 pm
The turnout for Brookfield for the gubernatorial election was 79%.
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skeptic94514
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 8:57 pm
Yes Brookfield’s reported gubernatorial election was 79% turnout, heavily GOP, was reported by Kathy Nickolaus. As was other elections posted from her personal computer.
As George W. said…Doing hella of a good job Kathy!
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mb
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 6:31 pm
Brookfield, WI is one of the most conservative cities, in one of the most conservative counties, in WI. So the numbers always are that lopsided in favor of conservative candidates in that city.
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Shiva (Moderator)
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 7:06 pm
and that is fine, that it is a conservative area. But you can’t pop up with just 6000 votes for one candidate. Statistically some of those votes had to go are the Democrats
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Alex
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 11:42 pm
It wasn’t 6000 for one voter. It was approx. 10,500 for Prosser and 3000 for kloppenburg
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Boscoe
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 8:49 pm
Either way this woman needs to be fired, or fired and put in jail.
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robin
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 10:47 pm
Many of the people orchestrating this massive coup should be reside in jail after this is all over.
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susan nicol
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 11:55 pm
First, polygraph test, second, recount, third, re-vote in Brookfield. That may restore my confidence in the electoral process. It may also show us that we need a prosecuter.
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Bob
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 2:36 am
Yes PLEASE seize her access to all records.. Do a polygraph.. Talk to the judges.. She was not very believable in that next morning interview.. obvious with her rambling on she was really hiding something..
What kind of crazy world are we living in.
IMO She will now be vilified from this day forth..
I recommend she rent a UHaul.. Move south like Mississippi Walker will probably be joining her soon
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marvin clark
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 4:38 pm
aaaaaabsolutely!!!!!
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Jon
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 4:54 pm
Polygraph test…ok, if you want. Recount, okay. Re-vote: no.
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URwhatiswrong
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 6:38 pm
Who put you in charge Jon?
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Gary Cook
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 11:43 pm
I agree with Jon. Kloppenburg already won the election. All that is needed now is a recount. Then prison time for Nickolaus.
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Krista
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 11:40 pm
Why not a revote? Why not a revote for the entire state?
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Richard Schoen
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 1:26 pm
http://www.opednews.com/articles/To-The-American-Media-Tim-by-Jonathan-Simon-110408-959.html
Everyone in America needs to read this important article.
“A call to the American media to end its silence on the covert computerized manipulation of American elections.”
Having just read it, the only conclusion I can come to is that the Wisconsin Supreme Court Kloppenburg/Prosser election must be done over, with paper ballots only, that are then all counted by hand.
Polygraph test: yes. Re-vote: absolutely.
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crystalwolfakacaligrl
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 2:22 pm
She probably is being paid off by Kochoctopus!
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Dave Cleinman
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 2:07 am
I have very little trouble believing that.
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Beth
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 7:24 am
Please explain what you are trying to say – are you implying that Kloppenburg paid this person to allege she “lost/misplaced” and then “found” 14,000 votes? – that is simply stupid – and who the hell is kochoctopus? Is that some attempt to be funny? – if so, it isn’t…
Regarding ACCESS, yes, it does automatically save…rather unique in that feature, and, Ms. Jones certainly brings up a curious point with “…but I have to question why any clerk is being allowed to keep votes only on her computer, refuses to share them on the county computers, and trusts her own inputting of numbers that she doesn’t save…”.
It just gets curiouser and curiouser…
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N
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 11:11 am
As in the Koch brothers… major supporters of Walker.
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C. Curd
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 11:35 am
Beth please take the cheese curds out of your ears. You are confusing what the person was saying. They meant Kathy Nickolaus was probably being paid off by the Koch Brothers’ money machine (‘kochtopus’).
The comment had nothing to do with Kloppenburg.
The rest you have correct.
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Dave
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 11:41 am
Kochtopus refers to the many-armed koch brothers monster that funds so many of the sick haters that make up the GOP.
Kochtopus is also a very popular drink in Waukesha County. Take two parts fuel-grade ethanol, mix with aged BP oil residues from the Gulf Coast (only from Mississippi, please), shake using a BPA-lined plastic bottle, pour into sippy cups, and top with a poison ivy leaf. Enjoy with friends at the local country club while laughing about the poor people who aren’t rich.
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Dana Lynn Kuchler
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 5:41 pm
Do I have your permission to repost that recipe?
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Neon Vincent
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 3:33 am
Unfortunately, she’s an elected official, not an appointed one, so she can’t be fired; she has to resign or be voted out. She is up for re-election for a third term in 2012. In 2008, she ran unopposed in the general. I suspect that won’t happen next year.
As for a recall, I suppose that could happen, but who would certify the petitions and count the votes? She would.
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R
Apr. 11th, 2011 at 10:53 pm
Fired, no, but arrested would be more appropriate anyway in all likelyhood.
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Thomas Bishop
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 8:51 pm
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.
- George Orwell
Wow. That Nickolaus was a partisan activist did not by itself give me pause — but when I heard she had a long history of election irregularities and questionable conduct, that raised some questions. And when I read that she unplugged election results from the State system and instead stored them only on her personal computer, and then resisted an audit which found such conduct in violation of accepted practices, that alarmed me.
And when I learned that Nickolaus story was that she had “found out about this at noon” on the 6th, I realized she then sat on that information for 29 hours before disclosing it to a soul. According to 3 observers who attended the county vote canvass, the issue of 14,315 additional votes from Brookfield never came up in the room.
And when I heard it was hidden from the people in the canvassing room and others involved in the process, and that Charlie Sykes, a representative of the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, National Review, and conservative bloggers had the story hours before it was announced — I said to myself — hey wait a minute. There’s really something not right here.
But this — in addition to her affiliations — the presence of motive, opportunity and a past history of misconduct — is the capper.
These numbers show it couldn’t have happened.
I don’t know if anyone today is old enough to remember the TV Show Columbo starring Peter Falk. But almost every episode began by showing the commission of the crime and its very very clever perpetrator. But the criminals always overlook something that they assume no one will ever notice — and Columbo’s formidable eye for detail and meticulous and dedicated approach gets all the evidence needed for indictment in the end.
I think that’s precisely what’s happening here in Waukesha County. The numbers can’t add up. Wow.
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Sarah Jones
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 8:58 pm
Great summation of the facts, Thomas.
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Shiva (Moderator)
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 9:47 pm
any votes coming of a personal computer should not be allowed
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Tod
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 4:43 am
Gotta be careful with this, however. If they are actually the voice of the people, then they MUST be counted.
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Frank anbeans
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 11:08 pm
forward all hate mail to that woman?
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Shiva (Moderator)
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 11:11 pm
Always remember that if you send an email, your IP address is in that email and you can be..yes…busted for it.
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Jon
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 4:56 pm
Incorrect summation. These numbers are badly misrepresentative. For a far better summation of the facts, please see the link that btm018 posted above.
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URwhatiswrong
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 6:41 pm
For a better summation of the facts look at Kathy’s criminal history.
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Kate Cutter
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 4:43 am
I’m more than old enough to remember Colombo. And he only had one formidable eye to work with. It doesn’t take a political scientist (although I happen to be one) to spy something horribly wrong with this.
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Samantha
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 9:00 pm
Has anyone questioned how the 14,000 ballots affected the other races in that area? I haven’t heard anyone address that and think that’s where the truth will come out, when the investigation reveals that the other races remain unchanged, which is impossible.
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mxh
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 9:10 pm
Great question! If the other races have been unchanged (or changed in a way that doesn’t match the supreme court results), it can only be fraud.
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vilca
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 9:21 pm
Excellent point !
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Thomas Bishop
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 10:18 pm
WOAH, Samantha, you maybe onto something! In fact, it looks like none of the other Brookfield races where a “vote for only one” applies had more than 9,600 votes!
Check out http://www.ci.brookfield.wi.us/DocumentView.aspx?DID=1542
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Naomi
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 1:06 am
Ooooh. Somebody is is so busted.
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John David
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 7:58 pm
Bingo! Follow the ball..if no other race totals are adjusted, it stinks to high heaven of election fraud..looks like Nickolaus is busted stone-cold!
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C. MEYER
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 11:05 pm
this was adressesed at the initial press conference there was one other state election. however the addition of brookfields legally cast votes did not alter the the outcome of the race. i would like to know if all of you well-minded people out there believe in the honesty and integrity of the vice chairman of the waukesha county democrats who was a part of the canvass and said she vouched for the new figures. the voting pattern is consitent with similar republican leaning communities
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C. Curd
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 11:45 am
First, please top yelling (turn off your ALL CAPS). It’s been proven that ALL CAPS IS NOT EASIER TO READ!
:)
And to answer your question: I think most people qualified to look at the matter have already noted the Waukesha County Democrats person probably was easily mislead since Ms Nickolaus kept most everyone in the dark with the numbers. This has been even stated repeatedly by people from the Waukesha County Republicans. If the Vice Chairman of the Democratic Party of Waukesha County signed-off on bogus numbers, let the chips fall where they may. We want the truth, not the she-said/he-said statements that seem to satisfy you.
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C. MEYER
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 9:48 pm
just easier to type….did you watch the press conference….what do you think a canvas is? so you would be happy with no one from brookfield’s vote counting. these are not new votes they are a part of the county’s total that were not reported to the press. they do not alter the total ammount cast by the citzen’s of waukesha county. the canvasers as a group went over the totals now kloppenburg’s camp is looking at same info. They are not looking at any”found” votes. this is more bookeeping instead of high crime
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Dave
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 11:46 am
Please stop with the caps, friend. Frankly, people don’t give a care whether the democratic chair from Waukesha county is convinced or not. She doesn’t have all the facts either.
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Joe Duran
Apr. 12th, 2011 at 8:18 am
Why did the democrat say everything “jibed”? Because more powerful than party affiliation is not being thought of as incompetent. The canvassers didn’t catch it and to go back and say we missed something is embarrasing. This is a case of no one wanting to say the “emperor has no clothes”. Bureaucrats area prideful bunch, regardless of party. A third party investigation is needed.
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Bob
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 2:53 am
No,they want us to believe that thousands showed up and took a ballot then only to voted for Prosser. Yeah… How many conservative voters do you know that go to the polls and vote in one race only..
If this does not get a full scale investigation many will be salty.. Geez noon the next day.. Check Phone records too please. Hers, her families, Prossers.. like from 12am to 12pm on 4/6 Since We are suppose to believe she went to bed after not saving the files.
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Paul
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 4:53 pm
It certainly looks like fraud is at least a strong possibility. But keep in mind it’s very common in elections for the high-profile contest on the ballot to elicit a far greater number of votes than contests or issues that are much more localized. Happens all the time in California where high-profile issues or candidates get a lot of attention in a precinct, but few vote on the local school boards because they simply don’t know who they’re voting for.
It needs a full-blown investigation.
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John David
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 8:03 pm
Exactly..this whole thing warrants a full-blown criminal investigation..I will not go quietly into the nite!!! I stood on the steps of our Capitol in freezing weather on several Saturdays demanding that my voice be heard in what I believed to be a democracy! I demand justice! Kloppenburg, I believe, is the rightful victor!
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Jon
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 6:15 pm
The only other races were for circuit court and school board. I personally never vote for school board, as I don’t follow their actions closely enough to form an intelligent opinion. This really shouldn’t be that big an issue.
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John David
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 8:04 pm
Nonsense
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defeatobama.com
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 9:09 pm
Don’t pee your pants folks. This isn’t the hardest issue to resolve. Despite what the average person might like to believe it is a little tricky to “stuff” the modern day ballot box. I’m not saying it can’t be done but someone would have to know in advance they needed those votes to be able to make it happen.
Most election rigging happens in repressive manners not magically making votes appear.
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Thomas Bishop
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 10:07 pm
Thanks “defeatobama.com”.
You’re right. Most election systems match the number of persons showing up to vote with the number of ballots cast, and/or preparing the forms so that they are difficult to fake.
But woops – this article provides population demographics which show the claimed result — matching the number of persons showing up to vote with the number of ballots cast — could not possibly have been obtained.
Another reliable method to insure the integrity of electronic voting results is independent software verification and certification. Once software is certified, code signing can insure the software certified is identical to that which is used on election day.
But woops again – that’s notoriously missing here.
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John David
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 8:05 pm
Yup, the walkersha repugs like to keep things to themselves, which they call ‘secure’…they are an insult to democracy.
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Naomi
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 1:01 am
They knew in advance. Proof is now required. Paper ballots. Are ballots paper in WI or are they computerized? Because computerized records can be changed quickly and no one would be the wiser…unless a moron named Kathy was who they decided to rely on to make this scam work. Oh well. She’s a peon. Who cares if she goes down. It’s all for a greater cause.
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C. Curd
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 11:55 am
It’s been fairly well documented that not just in Waukesha County but all over the state there were shortages of paper ballots, which was often solved by, you guessed it, bringing out the electronic paperless voting machines.
I suspect this little ‘comedy of errors’ was also how they took down Senator Feingold last year. The whole state needs to look at their voting for the last few elections. I won’t say it smells like lutefisk just yet but with Nickolaus’ past as well as her motive, it sure is getting stinky.
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Tod
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 4:54 am
“In advance”? Election was Tuesday, these magically appeared on Thursday afternoon. How much “advance” do you need with modern technology?
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Richard Schoen
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 1:48 pm
You, along with the rest of America, need to read this article: “To The American Media: Time To Face The Reality Of Election Rigging”
http://www.opednews.com/articles/To-The-American-Media-Tim-by-Jonathan-Simon-110408-959.html
Apparently it’s not that “tricky” to “stuff the modern day ballot box.”
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Robert J. Spiess Jr.
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 9:15 pm
There needs to be an investigation then a trial and a first class hanging. oops I was watching Silverado at the same time I’m reading this story although voter fraud should be hanging offence…
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vilca
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 9:18 pm
Also to be taken into consideration is the voting trends in Brookfield PRIOR to Nickolaus being appointed to the job. Have the percentages of party votes changed in any way when she took the job ? That she was the only one to access these programs is very suspicious.
I hope that all you have pointed out in your excellent post can be forwarded to investigators in Wisconsin.
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Bob
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 3:07 am
If they need us to point out obvious things like this then they should not have a job…
I consider things like worse than a felony.
Robbing a state disenfranchising the voters.
Swift action must be taken. If not… the way things have been happening in the State I worry for public safety. and the well being of MRS Nickolaus. For her sake get to the bottom of this.
If she is innocent.. explain the facts.. Cause Wisconsin feels like they are getting railroaded.
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Tod
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 4:57 am
I agree. Life in prison is the best way to handle things like this. Hey, I mean absolute proof has to be there, but if it is, well…
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C. Curd
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 11:59 am
Election fraud is about as un-American as it gets. I guess I’d settle for a 40 year sentence provided the treasonous criminal convicted as such would also have to be part of a hard labor crew during the majority of that time.
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Sean
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 4:49 pm
Apparently, district turnout skyrocketed after she got the job. See the recent Milwaukee Journal Online (JSO) articles by Mike Gilbert.
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Jon
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 6:02 pm
That’s not what Gilbert’s article says at all. It merely points out that, unlike the inaccurate numbers posted in this blog post, the Brookfield numbers line up with current trends only AFTER the 14,000 votes are tallied.
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jimmie Singleton
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 9:35 pm
The ones that vote decide nothing,the ones that count the votes decide everything……….Joseph Stalin
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DixiePixie
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 9:38 pm
I don’t know about Access but my programs always ask me “do you really want to do that” before I do something stupid – like not saving my work.
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Shiva (Moderator)
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 9:49 pm
Access is a database that auto saves. Any database does that. Its not like Excell where you have to tell it to save. In Access, when you enter a record it is saved.
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Jon
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 6:04 pm
Not really. Most people, when using Access, will write a “front end” or user interface, allowing them to complete a record before the entire record is entered in the database itself.
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URwhatiswrong
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 6:35 pm
You taking on this case Jon? Maybe you know a little too much?
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Access User
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 6:54 pm
Oh, I see. So she had to go back and save 14,000 times? No, you are wrong. Even with a front end (a form) when you type the data in, it generally goes directly into a table. The front end is just a pretty interface to the table, but the data is immediately entered. Based on what I have heard about this desktop system, I doubt it is any more sophisticated than that.
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Shiva (Moderator)
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 7:04 pm
it doesn’t really matter to me, any votes coming off a personal computer are extraordinarily suspect and should not be counted. Otherwise I think we should have a Democrat pop-up with 10,000 votes on a laptop
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John David
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 8:10 pm
fight fire with fire..the repugs are proving they will do anything to bust unions, and ergo, anyone in the lower 97% income group (me, you, and pretty much everyone else)..what do we have to do to tell them that they are not going to screw us!!!
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odum
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 8:36 pm
I’ve been an access programmer since the mid 90s, and your statement is a load of crap.
It saves as you go – field by field. The front end or form makes no difference.
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Beth
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 7:59 am
I have used Access at work and at home since the mid 90ies. When entering data I have never had to “save” anything – it is saved automatically.
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Iris
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 11:19 am
What do you mean, “Not really,” Jon? Whether you enter the record directly into a table or by means of a Form, the record is saved as soon as you hit [TAB] and advance to the next record, or hit [ENTER].
By the way, Jon: A database is made up of tables, so information entered into tables IS in the database. A Form is a means of entering data into one or more tables. As soon as you finish entry of the record, it is in the table, ERGO, in the database. It does not have to “wait.”
But, all this is irrelevant. Shiva said, “In Access, when you enter a record it is saved.” (Pure and Simple) At the end of your statement you said, “…allowing them to complete a record before the entire record is entered in the database itself.” (Either you left out the “and saved” or you don’t realize it is saved at that point.)
Which leads me to the question: Was there any actual point to your comment?
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C. Curd
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 12:02 pm
He’s checking with HBGary on what to say next. You’ve got him off-script.
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Oldsun
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 9:04 pm
Point of correction Shiva not all databasea will autosave, most will some though you need to enter a save command at the last point of entry or all data enter is lost. Older Oracle and most SQL databases work this way. Just wanted to point that out you are correct in taht MS Access autosaves and can be setup to save not only the information in the database but the users and there controls and access to the database in the schedual saves tab.
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Shiva (Moderator)
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 9:34 pm
I stand corrected
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Pam
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 9:50 pm
Is this going to be investigated? Something smells.
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sue
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 10:20 pm
Nickolaus got the numbers from the Clerk in the City of Brookfield on election eve. They were posted in the Brookfield Patch, April 6, 2010.
She claims she never entered the number to the totals she gave to the AP.
Did she add the numbers twice?
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DannyEastVillage
Apr. 8th, 2011 at 11:40 pm
only another sleazebag like her would give her another job. Unfortunately, I don’t find that very comforting.
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C. Curd
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 12:11 pm
Up north we have bets on when the car will fall through the ice. It’s considered an inevitability since no one can remember an old clunker remaining above the surface past May.
How about we make it interesting: start a betting pool the day and time of Nickolaus’ departure for a career with one of the many subsidiaries of Koch Industries.
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Greg Oline
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 12:16 am
If Clerk Kathy Nickolaus’ errors had benefited an ‘opposing’ party, they would be more believable.
I wonder what other Wisconsin programmers think?
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Bob
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 3:17 am
If Clerk Kathy Nickolaus’ errors had benefited an ‘opposing’ party, they would be more believable.
Yes, considering she has only had a record of finding votes for the same party in the past.
I still question the whole ethical data thing… But at-least it would show she is capable of an err that does not benefit her constituents.
I would guess she saw the tally… Then or-castrated this in the wee hours of the 4/6 pm… Phone records PLZ cause I do not think she would do it alone…
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Hannah
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 12:53 am
Sarah leaves out one critical fact: Since only 30% of Brookfield’s voters voted by 5 p.m., over 6,000 people would have been required to come to the polls in the last couple hours. There is no evidence that Brookfield’s polling places–contrary to anywhere else in Waukesha Co.–were mobbed over the last few hours.
This URL goes to a 4/5 report on a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel affiliated website quoting the Brookfield City Clerk that only 30% voted by 5 p.m.!
http://brookfield-wi.patch.com/articles/election-turnout-could-exceed-40-percent-city-says
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Sarah Jones
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 1:01 am
That helps explain my concern over the prediction of 22% turn out at 1PM. Thanks for the link.
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Naomi
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 1:05 am
Wow. This is going to be interesting.
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smellgood
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 2:45 am
Wow. That is an excellent point.
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Jon
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 6:10 pm
The actual number is 5250 voters who would have to show up after 5. That’s not uncommon in upper class areas.
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URwhatiswrong
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 6:36 pm
Again you have an alibi.
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C. Curd
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 12:40 pm
As was stated earlier, no one documented the sudden (and unusual for that city) evening turn-out.
Actual facts show that nationwide, precincts from affluent areas have peaked by early afternoon. More telling is the local media which reported no such surge.
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Naomi
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 12:55 am
I’m sorry but this is waaaay fishy. I’m no conspiracy theorist but this just seems too good to be true. If push comes to shove they should have another vote in that county.
Someone pointed out today on R. Maddow that it makes no sense to have something like the county clerk who is in charge of tallying votes, be partisan. it should be a paid professional position that is neutral. I wonder how much they are going to pay dear Kathy to take the fall for this? Hope it was worth it as she’ll be a national pariah if this comes back dirty.
Forgot to press save, indeed. My 7 year old could come up with a more believable lie.
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C. Curd
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 12:45 pm
This will just be an entry on her resume for Koch Industries. She’s shown she will go far and wide for the cause.
And gee, look who controls the State’s investigation apparatus. (Hint: it rhymes with ‘Yacht Stalker’)
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Sarah Jones
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 12:48 pm
The DoJ may get involved, we’ll see.
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Juan Tanamo
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 1:42 am
This totally STINKS. I wish I had confidence that anything will be done. This is a blatant stealing of the election. By doing it so openly, the right wing is thumbing their nose at any opposition and basically, saying, “Oh yeah? Whatcha gonna do about it?”
How many days will it be before the State Supreme Court issues decisions destroying Wisconsin unions?
The people who cast the votes
decide nothing. The people who
count the votes decide everything.
—Josef Stalin
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smellgood
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 2:48 am
We are on this. Kloppenburg has made FOI requests. She’s got the same lawyer Franken used. Prosser has a lawyer from Rove’s crew. The state government accountability board is investigating.
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Fredreads
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 2:13 am
Nov. 26, 2001
Others granted immunity thus far include Assembly Republican caucus workers Kathy Nickolaus, Melanie Hartsough and Kacy Hack, plus former graphic artist Eric Grant. Susan Egger, administrative assistant for the Assembly Democratic caucus, was also granted immunity.
In recent weeks, lobbyists confirmed that authorities have expanded their caucus investigation, asking them whether Chvala or Assembly Speaker Scott Jensen (R-Town of Brookfield) sought campaign contributions in return for action on legislation.
http://www3.jsonline.com/news/state/nov01/caucus27112601.asp
Nickolaus was given immunity from prosecution in a 2002 criminal investigation into illegal activity by members of the Republican Assembly caucus where she worked as a data analyst and computer specialist. Prosser, who as speaker of the Assembly in 1995 and 1996 controlled the same caucus, was not part of the investigation. Nickolaus resigned from her state job in 2002 just before launching her county clerk campaign.
The corruption probe took down five legislative leaders, all of whom reached plea deals.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42483089/ns/us_news
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Oct 14, 2005
The red-faced county clerk, Kathy Nickolaus, said the gaffe occurred when her office sent some newspapers the same sample ballots that had been marked and used to test voting machines. It was “human error” she said. We caught it, but we didn’t catch it fast enough. The tainted sample ballots are being published in newspapers in Brookfield, Menomonee Falls, Mukwonago and Sussex. Along with both candidates’ names and detailed instructions on how to complete a ballot there it is- a hand drawn solid line designating a vote for Dwyer.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QroaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=R0UEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1857,2929880&dq=kathy+nickolaus&hl=en
Waukesha County Voting Bedeviled
Sept, 13, 2006
County Clerk, Kathy Nickolaus said some returns from the city of Waukesha inexplicitly had data recorded in the wrong column, which momentarily skewed results. Nickolaus and her staff resorted to correcting the city’s results manually—a process that continued until 1 a.m., with staffers poring over a blizzard of numbers on computerized printouts.
http://suggest.wi.gov/docview.asp?docid=11008&locid=1222006
Waukesha County to audit election equipment
Clerk criticized for not sharing data with other departments
Aug. 18, 2010
Waukesha – The County Board’s Executive Committee has ordered an audit of the county clerk’s election equipment and system beginning with the September primary despite several memos she sent to the committee over the weekend defending her practices and resisting the move.
County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus has maintained that as the one in charge of elections, she is responsible for the security and operation of the system. However, other county officials say they worry about the integrity of the old equipment and the system she’s using and whether she has adequate backup.
County Corporation Counsel Thomas Farley told the committee Monday that as an elected official with responsibility for elections, “If she wants to keep everything secret, she probably can.
“I don’t know if that’s wise or what she should do, but if she wants to and the public is satisfied that that’s what they want – someone who keeps everything secret – that’s up to them.”
The issue came to a head when Nickolaus removed the election results collection and tallying system from the county computer network this spring and installed it on standalone personal computers in her office. She has said they are backed up with redundant systems.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/waukesha/100890299.html
Kathy Nickolaus in Waukesha forgot to save? Really?
Microsoft Access (any version) doesn’t ask you to save. When you enter data into a table, it automatically updates the underlying database. If you close the database accidentally, the data you entered (or imported, in the case of Nickolaus) remains. If you stop to take a phone call from your buddy the governor (for example), your data will still automatically save.
For further proof, I asked my 8 year old daughter to try to enter data in my little Access voting system mock up, and not save it. She couldn’t do it. She tried all sorts of things, and the votes still saved.
I entered 10,000 votes for Prosser, and closed the database. No save prompt appeared. I came back in, and there were the 10,000 votes! Thanks Bill Gates! I entered 20,000 votes for Prosser, and did a hard shutdown of my computer. When I booted back up and reopened the file, the 20,000 votes were there! Thanks again Bill Gates!
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/04/07/964645/-Kathy-Nickolaus-in-Waukesha-forgot-to-saveReally
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JIM
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 3:12 am
I say haul every person working the polls in that county that night in front of a grand jury, give them immunity and let the games begin. Somebody knows something and it will come out. She could not have done this by herself.
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John
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 5:13 am
Regarding MS Access: the important question is not whether MS Access prompts the user to “save” record input, but rather, when does Access prompt the operator to save? Forgive me if I’m a bit crusty, because the last time I worked with Access was 2009, and also I use a Mac in everyday life, but if I remember correctly, Access prompts users to save new tables, no? If one believes Ms. Nickolaus’ in saying she forgot to save, and pre-existing tables do not prompt the user to save new records, then it’s plausible she forgot to save a new table in the database.
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URwhatiswrong
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 7:58 pm
No it’s not plausible. What is plausible is that she is a thief and a cheat. What is plausible is every Republican partisan will come out to create a scenario where her ludicrous story makes sense. What is plausible is she should be heading off to jail.
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Tina
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 6:29 am
I wish I could say that I was stunned by this,but after all that has been happening around the country these past few months,I am not surprised.
I do hope they get to the bottom of this and not just sweep it under the rug though.
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yall americans
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 7:53 am
You realize that if what you all are saying is true that the only legitimate answer is armed insurrection.
It’s what it has to be.
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henry
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 8:47 am
If the votes were on her personal computer they are tainted and cannot be counted.
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Justin
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 10:55 am
“This yields a possible voting base of 28,291. Registered voters? Doesn’t matter. Wisconsin allows folks to register on the day of the elections.”
The number of registered voters does matter. Can we not simply find out how many voters are registered now, after the election, to know the specific possible voting base?
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The Truth
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 12:53 pm
What? A Right Winger committing election fraud?
I’m shocked!
This attempt is beyond amateurish and pathetic, even by GOP/Tea Moron standards. Typical of the intelligence level of the base.
“Computer Kathy has run afoul of election protocol in 2002, 2004,2005, 2007. And each time, she was found to have had some computer irregularity that favored the Right Wing candidate, when she wasn’t demonstrating for unsuspecting voters via touch screen, which (Right Wing) candidate to vote for”
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Alan Reder
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 2:23 pm
I’m for Kloppenburg and against Prosser/Walker big-time but I’m not sure about all the arguments here. I believe the turnout was known to be high in Brookfield and Waukesha County as a whole, as the Journal-Sentinel reported (http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/119476004.html). I have also lived in conservative areas in Oregon where the voter split was 75% red to 25% blue on litmus test issues. So that part isn’t weird. But yes, the clerk’s current and prior behavior, along with the Access thing, are very questionable. An investigation is certainly warranted. Thank you for the work you do.
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Jesse
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 2:29 pm
I hope Klopenberg keeps fighting, doesn’t give in, doesn’t quit, and stands strong against the Kathryn Harris of the north.
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Reynardine
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 4:03 pm
Kathryn Harris! To think her memory was fading from the minds of us poor sandsuckers! But you brought it all back to us… gee! Thanx for making us smile!
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mb
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 4:22 pm
Actually, youre analysis isnt nearly correct. Craig Gilbert from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel ran the numbers:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/119519294.html
“But do the voting figures look fishy from a purely numerical standpoint? Are they implausible on their face based on what we know about the turnout history of Brookfield and Waukesha County compared with other places?
Not at first glance.
The new figures put the total vote in the city of Brookfield at 14,315. Brookfield has a voting-age population in the 2010 census of 29,007. So that would make its April 5 turnout equal to 49.4% of voting-age adults.
That number is 15 points higher than the statewide turnout of roughly 34%, but there is nothing odd about that. Brookfield is a high-turnout community in a high-turnout county. Last fall, Brookfield had a rather amazing turnout of 73% of voting-age adults, which was 23 points higher than the statewide turnout of 50% of voting-age adults.
The 49% Brookfield turnout is also higher than the overall turnout in Brookfield’s home county, Waukesha, which would equal 42% of voting-age adults, using the adjusted returns. That’s consistent with what happened last fall, when Brookfield’s turnout was about nine points higher than the turnout rate in Waukesha County as a whole.
Nor would a 49% turnout rate in Brookfield be out of line with other upscale communities that have high voting rates, according to calculations based on 2010 census data and the still unofficial voting returns from Tuesday.”
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Teacher in Cheeseland
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 4:57 pm
Hmmm…I thought the stench in Wisconsin was emanating from Madison, but perhaps of bit of it is coming from Waukesha County, too…
Great points, good info. Hopefully, some non-partisan people will get to the bottom of this.
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Chuck
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 5:08 pm
Man, speaking of tilting at windmills, this is classic.
It’s over, get it. O V E R! Kloppers lost, lost, lost. L O S T
capice`
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Downing
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 5:44 pm
demographics, usual turn out rates, is a county Dem or Rep, number of registered voters, REALLY, Here let me make it really simple one vote two vote three vote. just read the cat in the hat book One fish two fish as an idiots guide to counting
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Mick
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 6:15 pm
1: Just because she uses an “access database” doesn’t mean she sits and pastes things into Access’ GUI. A separate program could be run that doesn’t even involve running Access.
2: Brookfield typically has very high voter turnout. In the February primary for this, they ran out of ballots because double the expected number showed up. (Still far less than than showed up on Apr 5, but very high for a primary, even in Brookfield)
3: Brookfield typically _does_ go nearly 2.5:1 or 3:1 in favor of (R) candidates.
4: Brookfield had a ** 73% ** turnout in November. And yes, the overwhelming majority went for Walker.
Stop this “fuzzy math doesn’t add up” nonsense. It’s BS and no amount of repetition, recounting or investigation will change that fact. You’re just whipping yourself into a lather for nothing.
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C. Curd
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
It’s sad that with such fishy circumstances surrounding this discovery of additional votes that an intelligent-sounding person like you wouldn’t at least want to cast any doubts aside with a transparent investigation that would hopefully return peoples’ confidence in our voting system.
Doesn’t that matter to you?
If Prosser won fair and square then what is there to lose? Hell the guy is ahead pretty far so you should be saying “You want an investigation? Sure! You want a recount? Sure!” We’ve already said we will pay for the cost of both.
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GameOfLife
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 6:20 pm
Yeah she cheated. Yeah she’s a cheat. Yeah she’s an old time cheat. Yeah she got away with not implementing basic computer security. And she has a nerve to carry her job title, HA. I don’t know why it’s so hard for some to call it what it is. She is a m-f thief, no better than walker.
Now if she were African-American and a dem she would be under the jail by now, Pres. Obama would had held a press conference, faux news would loop the fuck out of it and repubs would use this to try to justify giving more shit to the rich.
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URwhatiswrong
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 6:46 pm
Absolutely. The full force and weight of the DNC should have air dropped into WI by now.
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John David
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 8:19 pm
Bingo! Obama, this is a full-blown assault on YOUR voting base! This is a m-f’in SOS!!! Nickolaus needs to be full-court pressed NOW!!! Bring in Erik Holder!
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SG2
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 3:54 pm
X’s 10
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Leslie
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 6:38 pm
A Bit Head’s Analysis of Kathy Nickolaus’ Press Conference. I’ve posted a detailed analysis of Nickolaus’ press conference and her explanations for how these errors could have happened. Click on my “website” link.
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Frank anbeans
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 11:24 pm
anyone could tell us how the mistakes COULD HAVE happened…
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C. Curd
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 12:58 pm
especially after the fact
In any case it boggles the mind that someone with such a poor track record still has a job. Then again if she’s delivering the results that the people of that County are happy with . . .
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GameOfLife
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 6:50 pm
One more thing — the whole state would have a do over election, not just nickolaus’ county. It wouldn’t be fair if Waukesha county gets a heads up.
walker is costing Wisconsin big time money handling his corruption. Why wasn’t the koch phone call enough to throw walker’s ass out?
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Tammy
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 10:58 pm
This smells of election fraud. I found this quote today and it has me wondering if Walker is involved. He made this quote when talking about “Two Wisconsins” and the recount…”As long as the rules are clear, as long as there aren’t ballots somehow found out of the blue that weren’t counted before, things of that nature, as long as everything’s above board, I think that’s fair,” said Walker.
This sounds very suspicious…why would he even mention “missing” ballots if he didn’t know what was going to happen in Waukesha County and there would be a major shift favoring Prosser?
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Greg A Jones
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 11:11 pm
It figures that when your vote counts, They wont.
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Randy in Richmond
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 11:28 pm
Maybe you can tell me why you didn’t publish my comment ?
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Shiva (Moderator)
Apr. 9th, 2011 at 11:50 pm
I would say that if you post it again without attacking the author it would have a very good chance of going through. Just the facts maam
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Randy in Richmond
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 6:04 am
My, aren’t we sensitive.
Fact: In the 2010 governor’s election 2,158,723 total people voted in Wisconsin.
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/105000829.html
Fact:There are 1,479,976 projected voters in the 2011 Judge election (not counting the 14,315 unreported votes)
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/elections/2011/by_county/WI_Supreme_Court_0405.html?SITE=AP&SECTION=POLITICS
Fact: This means about 69% of the people voting in 2010 voted in 2011, statewide.
Fact: In 2010 21,263 people voted in Brookfield.
http://gab.wi.gov/elections-voting/results/2010/fall-general/ward
If you take 69% of 21,263 you get 14,671 which is very close to the 14,315 votes reported but not included.
http://www.ci.brookfield.wi.us/index.aspx?NID=215
Therefore the fuzzy math theory has no standing based on actual votes cast in 2011 compared to actual votes cast in 2010. The author’s own number of total voters in Brookfield is 28,291. The actual number of voters in the 2011 election in Brookfield is 14,315 as reported by the City itself. This gives a percentage of those voting in Brookfield in 2011 to be 50.5 %. In 2010 the percentage of those voting in Brookfield was 75 %. The 33% used in the article to show “fuzzy math” could not apply to Brookfield, the City being discussed.
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Becky
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 12:03 am
well, something that is being overlooked is the actual election results reported at 10:07 pm on election night by the City of Brookfield. the totals reported are the same as what Kathy Nickolaus is currently reporting after her discovery of the “mistake”. here’s the link -
http://www.ci.brookfield.wi.us/DocumentView.aspx?DID=1542
if that doesn’t work, simply google “city of Brookfield wi election results and you will find on the city’s website 2 links for election results, April 5th 2011, scroll down – one for the results reported on election night and another link to a pdf file that is an update explaining that all votes were indeed counted, and that the results were reported properly on election night, to Waukesha Cty, and to the Journal Sentinel, and another local newspaper.
the numbers are the same. so, can someone explain how election fraud could have taken place if the results reported by the City of Brookfield actually match those currently being reported by Kathy Nickolaus? I’m sincerely wondering. I mean, there must be paper ballots and tapes to back up those results, and if there was election fraud, then the city of Brookfield would have to be in on it too. anyone have any ideas?
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Sarah Jones
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 12:12 am
She has all of the votes in bags with her, she hasn’t released them to anyone yet nor has anyone gotten to look at them yet.
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Becky
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 12:41 am
yes, that is correct. no one has yet done an actual count of the paper ballots and the machine tapes. but the totals were reported by the Brookfield city clerk at 10:07 pm election night, after they had been tallied up at all the Brookfield city precincts. the voting machines would have to have been tampered with on-site at one or more of the Brookfield precincts in order to mess with the totals. how is it that Kathy N. would have been able to mess with the vote totals before the city of Brookfield clerk phoned them in to Waukesha county? I’m not understanding that. regardless of whether or not the ballots/votes add up to the reported totals once a recount is done, you are forgetting that the numbers were phone in by the Brookfield city clerk and those numbers do currently match what Kathy N. is reporting to have “found”. understand?
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Sara
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 9:55 am
I agree with you Becky and I live in Madison, have been protesting regularly, and I grew up in Brookfield – voted for the first time there, and my parents still live there.
I doubt the actual vote count is wrong, like someone else mentioned Brookfield is a very high income area with an active voting population – I’m not surprised that their percentage of voters is equivalent to Madison. The people there have the most to lose if taxes go up and unions aren’t busted.
What is surprising is that they would keep employing this hack to count their votes, but maybe in a Republican majority area they don’t mind so much if things turn out a bit more their way. The dems in the area aren’t strong enough to fix it apparently – the rest of the state has a lot of work to do. Apparently we do need to alter our voting laws so conformity is achieved using tech and we can make sure all the votes are secure and not tampered with.
I also fully support a recount, and I have heard that the “new” number does show under 5 percent so the recount should be “free” to Kloppenburg, anyway, I’m looking forward to the results of the recount though I doubt any of us are going to feel fully confident in the results regardless of the outcome.
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Sarah Jones
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 11:58 am
Just so you know, taxes are going up under Walker, but not due to unions. Unions already conceded all financial requests of Walker’s way before they started protesting. And the reason your taxes are going up is because Walker gave a huge corporate tax break away and he had to pay for it somehow. Your budget was also not in the red until he did that. So, it’s not a matter of unions taking money from you, it’s a matter of having a limited amount of revenue and where do you want to spend it? You either give it to corporations like Republicans do or you put it toward education, infrastructure, police, firefighters, etc as Democrats do (this didn’t used to be the case, fyi – this is the New Republican platform where they don’t participate in government, but rather they fund/subsidize/ give hand outs to businesses from the taxpayer dollar). In this case, Walker gave such a tax break away that he could no longer fund the budget. The money for the corporations has to come from the people now, whether it’s taxes (property taxes), cuts, or what have you – the one thing it will not be is taxes on corporations.
There are voting laws and rules, and she was told to follow them repeatedly, but she refused. The people in Brookfield seem to like it that way, or they wouldn’t keep entrusting her. I agree that it seems wrong if she won’t conform to the rules. Apparently she “smirked” during the audit and refused to comply with their suggestions. If someone tells you that they alone can and should be trusted with your vote, it’s time to vote them out. Anyone who is honest will have no reason to suggest such a thing.
Voter turn out is higher in areas where there is a direct threat, historically, and the made up boogieman of unions isn’t real, so it’s not as visceral as coming for your paycheck is. You can see from the numbers that people flipped support and you can see from the recall efforts that voters are motivated on the people’s side (people v corporations). This is also born out by the rallies. The “pro-Walker” rallies were incredibly small in number of supporters.
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Richard Schoen
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 5:14 pm
I enjoyed your article. Have you read this one? It’s also very important I think. “To The American Media: Time To Face The Reality Of Election Rigging”
Here’s what Dr. Simon says, toward the end of the piece, about Wisconsin:
“2011 : There is a story in Wisconsin. It’s a miracle! 7583 votes magically found for the Republican candidate (found by a former employee of that candidate) in another “proxy” election with seismic implications. Just exactly enough votes to dodge the mandatory recount that would have revealed . . . who knows? Yet another coincidence? There’s a story in Wisconsin. It has the potential to blow the lid off the Big Lie. Anyone want to cover it?”
http://www.opednews.com/articles/To-The-American-Media-Tim-by-Jonathan-Simon-110408-959.html
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Sarah Jones
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 6:05 pm
Great article, thank you. I’ve been following election rigging and voter fraud issues for a while now due to a friend who has been hired to create voting machines that are harder to rig. The GA, OH, and FLA stories were never really told. Frightening stuff.
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Steve Miller
Apr. 11th, 2011 at 3:42 pm
Dear Becky,
Don’t approach a problem with logic or reason. The truth is Kathy N. used hypnotic powers on the voters and in advance met with those who found ballots for Al Franken in their trunk so as to cook up an ingenious plot to defraud Wisconsin voters.
The problem is the number of votes match the voters and to say that the percents aren’t right would be the argument you could use when some Dane County precints waited ’til the end of the night to report their numbers with 70% going for Kloppenburg. That percentage doesn’t bother those who support her but that same percentage in another county is “irregular”.
Thank you for your post but if you are trying to use logic it will not be accepted.
Additonally, having lived in Chicago, I would say Wisconsin voting is just as much if not more corrupt than Chicago. I used to be a democrat but but it was discussions like these that convinced me we were bankrupt in regards to a good ideology and all we did was make emotive arguments and cried victim.
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Ajmcgill
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 12:03 am
Nickolaus makes errors and the correction, or should I say her correction always benefits only the Republican Party. That alone makes me suspicious. Add the delay in reporting the discrepancy, just makes me more suspicious.
Before 2011 if you said I would march in a protest in the winter against the Governor, I would have said you’re crazy. If you said that Walker would lie to the voters, I would not have believed you. If you said that my sister’s take home pay would be $600/month less because of a move by the state, I wouldn’t have believed you.
If the State Supreme Court race was suddenly won by the Republican Party after it was discovered the county clerk forgot to hit save and then spent 29 hours fixing her data, what would I believe? I believe that honesty is becoming a rare quality in state government and I believe the Republicans will do anything to keep the Koch brothers happy. I bet several upcoming decisions will go in favor of the Koch’s interests. There is no Santa Claus, is there?
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hipparchia
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 12:07 am
Looks like your numbers are from the 2000 census, not the 2010 census
http://censtats.census.gov/data/WI/1605510025.pdf
not that the population of Brookfield grew appreciably in 10 years…
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/55/5510025.html
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George Cohen
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 1:57 am
This is the exact bullcrap that the Republicans pulledin Deland FL in the 2000 elections. 15,000 or 16,000, it sure smells like horse feces.
“Gore’s count had dropped by 16,000 votes, while an obscure Socialist candidate had picked up 10,000–all because of a single precinct with only 600 voters.”"
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0310/S00211.htm
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KatS
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 8:04 am
They got nothin’ over south TX where they change the polling place on election day to a site 20 miles away. And then change it back a month before the next election. Gotta luv TPTB.
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Carol Saal
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 9:35 am
If this person who counted the votes was doing a job for me and she made that many mistakes for me I would of fired her a long time ago but someone in the government close there eyes to that one. Doesn’t this remind you of the voting system in Florida when Jeb Bushes state had a problem when Bush was President. Well once again the republicans have issues and low and behold the vote for the judge is being recounted and of course there was a error according to the rep. I think there should not be Rep. or Dem. partys if they would take this energy and stop paying the Governer so much money to sit behind a gold desk and make his wage s the same as mine and everyone of the poor in Wisconsin maybe the budget would not be in turmoil. This is a joke and the lol is on all the people who are involved.
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Osh549
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 10:23 am
Simple solution, have a new, statewide vote for just the WI SC in very early may, as soon as new ballots can be printed up, and require a federal, non-partisan, election official to oversee the inputting of all data at the county clerk’s offices. It will cost considerably less than what all the ensuing law suits will end up costing. And Nickolaus should be impeached just for her prior history! This is OUR COUNTRY, and WE WANT IT BACK!
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C. Curd
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 1:27 pm
Here’s my problem with that: if we don’t investigate this we will let the people who have committed crimes against democracy go free (again). We won’t uncover others who were undoubtedly involved in this scam. We won’t be able to see how they probably used this same sort of thing in 2010 against Feingold.
Believe me, there are some good minds looking at the numbers right now for this election and 2010′s and there are some anomalies that are beginning to emerge that are going to make even Republicans stop and wonder (for once).
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Osh549
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 3:50 pm
I truly hope they do get to the bottom of this, and when they do find the fraud and deception, those involved should be made to repay the tax payers every penny that was spent uncovering and investigating it. I agree, it is just way to convenient the way the perfect number of votes was “found” after the preliminary results were posted.
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VoiceOfReason
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 10:33 am
The silent majority has spoken. The state is now center right and not moving left anytime soon. Judge Prosser has agreed to a recount of this county. Over reacting gets you people nowhere fast.
This math thing is pure speculation, there are no real facts involved. If your looking for a reason why things turned out the way they did? just look in the mirror. People like myself who were solidly in the middle went out and voted for Prosser because we are tired of the rhetoric and saw this race as chance to silence the voices saying the state is fully behind the teachers. It just isn’t true. The Majority of wisconsin is still believe that Gov Walkers bill was right on the money.
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Sarah Jones
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 11:42 am
I was unaware you all were silent. In fact, I’ve heard nothing but screeching about government rape and don’t take my Medicare from people screaming the President is a socialist while standing on state owned parks to protest. When can we look forward to the silent part?
As for the rest of your statement, saying things doesn’t make them so. The SC election actually showed the opposite, regardless of the final outcome. As I wrote in the article, there was a shift in counties that went for Walker in 2010 to Kloppenburg. That is a lessening of support, not a growing of support, statewide. And a rather dramatic one.
It’s sad that you call yourself the voice of reason in the same breath that you say math isn’t a fact. Unless and until an explanation is forthcoming about why so many more people voted for Prosser than any other conservative on the ticket and unless the voter turnout can be explained and shown as a huge rush in the last two hours (which was not reported that evening), the numbers show statistical anomalies that bear examination.
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VoiceOfReason
Apr. 11th, 2011 at 6:19 am
You mistake neocons for independents. We in the silent majority have been silently prodding along hoping for change for a long time. We have only recently come out of the shadows because of the fact that we feel like we are under attack. Just because we feel that fiscal discipline is the order of the day, does not mean we are TEA PARTY fanatics. We are average hard working people. You can try to lump us into a box but beware your hurting your cause.
Considering that the state has been firmly left leaning for some time now and the fact that the base of the left was fired up and motivated. this race should not have been so close. You had mass media on your side. Organizing For America and the full backing of the democratic party. I think this proves that the only reason Joanne didn’t win is because single independent voters like myself went out and voted against her.
Lastly, I went in to vote, got a paper ballot, blacked out my vote for Prosser and turned my ballot in. It was the only person on the ballot I knew. So thats the only vote I cast. Also, you can’t possibly believe the numbers from the AP, as proven in the 10,000 added votes and then subtracted in dane county, All your looking at is the inputs of some AP cronnie inputting numbers given numbers from individual clerks.
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C. Curd
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 1:40 pm
What this election showed is that Scott Walker isn’t going to be sitting in the Governor’s chair after next January:
Number of votes cast in Wisconsin Supreme Court Election: About 1.48 million
Number of votes cast for Kloppenburg: 739,711
Number of signatures needed to recall Scott Walker: 540,206
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What this also means is that despite being out-spent 3:1 by the Koch Money Machine, the PEOPLE of Wisconsin turned-out in droves to vote for a relatively unknown Democratic candidate in an election that would have usually had low-turnout expectations.
I heard HBGary is hiring.
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secretdj
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 4:37 pm
I have put up data, including 2010 data downloaded directly from Census.Gov.
http://bit.ly/hjGY0t
While there is fairly high turnout based on the Over18 population, other cities and towns in Waukesha County had a higher vote/over18 percentage. The Over18 number is useful to asking other questions; how many over18 people are eligible to vote, and more importantly, how many of them are registered. To have a massive increase in votes, there has to be a massive correlation to people registered, either previously registered or registered that day. Measuring the “found” votes to registered voters is a better measure of “normal” behavior than using Census data.
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nancy lewis
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 4:56 pm
Please clarify the numbers. If 14,000 votes were found and 7500 went to Prosser, where did the other votes go to. That would be 6500 and I believe I read Joanna got 3400, that would still leave over 3000 unaccounted for. If the votes and voting tallies from this city don’t match and we are missing over 3000 votes what is the explanation? Did people forget to vote for judge? Were they spoiled ballots or write ins for judge. What else was on the ballot in Waukesha?Was the judge ship the only thing on the ballot? Is there a discrepancy between what was reported out later from her own antiqued PC and the original ballot tally from the city? Was she still allowing other people to use the sAME USER ID and password so that it would be more difficult to find out who tallied the votes?
Seems strange not to have noticed an entire city without votes and to suddenly find them 24 hours later to up end this election..She has apparently done this twice before with the same excuse.
Gross negligence at the very least. SORRY DOESNT CUT IT FOR ME
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Sarah Jones
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 4:57 pm
No, that’s “net” for Prosser.
There were other races on the ballot and they had significantly fewer votes, which locals say is odd, since some of those races featured people Brookfield had strong feelings about.
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Teacher in Cheeseland
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 9:15 pm
And now the Governor says he will make sure unions don’t steal the election (newsmax.com, 4/10/11) http://www.newsmax.com/InsideCover/scott-walker-prosser-election/2011/04/10/id/392402
Get your own house in order first, Governor Walker.
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secretdj
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 5:41 pm
Spreadsheet with reported AP versus current count http://bit.ly/hjGY0t
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magnum
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 10:33 pm
I have a real problem with people who are misinformed and then blog off to others who have a problem researching on their own. Let us be clear the census numbers that you have given are for the year 2000, please look here http://wisconsin.hometownlocator.com/wi/waukesha/brookfield.cfm
This is the problem with the voters today, they actually believe those who blog.
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Dennis D
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 11:02 pm
Maybe she found them in a Car Trunk like AL Franken?
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Shiva (Moderator)
Apr. 10th, 2011 at 11:35 pm
Al Franken was found in a car trunk?
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Dan Jaeger
Apr. 11th, 2011 at 11:37 pm
And if the Mayans had it right, the 2012 Judgement day will find Wisconsin still in limbo :)
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Alan
Apr. 13th, 2011 at 1:44 pm
The Isthmus is a weekly newspaper in Madison. They run a web site named The Daily Page. I believe the credit should be to The Daily Page, or perhaps The Isthmus/The Daily Page, but not The Daily Isthmus
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V.R. Savage
Apr. 16th, 2011 at 1:43 pm
When Al Franken magically comes up with more votes than there were voters, it’s a ‘mandate’.
When ACORN somehow manages to get the roster of the Dallas Cowboys on the (D) voter rolls in Nevada, it’s ‘democracy in action’.
Whether it’s hanging chads or creative re-districting, we need to fight for what is right and correct those things that are not.
Right or Left, if you have to cheat to win, then you have already proven your side is the loser.
If we teach the next generation that you have to cheat to win, then the USA will end up being relegated to alphabetical obscurity at the bottom of the list of nations in this world…. Somewhere between Uganda and Uzbekistan.
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Sarah Jones
Apr. 16th, 2011 at 3:36 pm
ACORN of course was never found guilty of voter fraud, as you must know. However, the GOP get out the vote company head was in 2008. Please provide links to where the Franken clerk had already been granted immunity years before for working for Democrats and had managed to “find” votes in not one, but two elections and had been audited and told to comply with county procedures but refused. Also, in the recount, they counted the votes by hand, fyi. They haven’t done that yet in WI that bags are still with Kathy, apparently.
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eric frazee
Apr. 20th, 2011 at 5:37 pm
This crap has been going on in earnest since 2000, when Diebold loaded our country with electronic voting machines designed by and for republicans, (corporatists) to flip volts. Since they were not held accountable, every right wing slime ball in government thinks they can do the same, and guess what? They can.
This is a traitorous act, and should be investigated, but what hey, oops? No one is investigating. Wisconsin should really zero in on this one, use it as a test cast for the nation. And we all, as citizens in a now Fascist country, should rise up and demand accountability and just punishment for anyone who messes with our right to vote…retro-active accountability…there’s a very good institution waiting for these pukes…Gitmo
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