Since we in the Badger State are flush with cash, we’ve decided to have a recount of the election of a state Supreme Court judge. It’s estimated by the left and right to come in at a minimum of a million bucks. A few short years ago this would have been peanuts, but Jim “Hammerhead” Doyle’s excesses have come due, and that’s real money now. Just ask the out of state labor agitators. Every penny counts.
The day after the election, flush with a victory of just over 200 votes, Kloppenberg was front and center declaring victory (front page of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal). All was well. But then…
The clerk in charge of reporting for Waukesha county noticed the reporting from the entire city of Brookfield hadn’t been included. Keep in mind, earlier reporting was only done for the benefit of the A.P. so they would have numbers to report. Nothing had been filed or certified. Suddenly Prosser had a lead of over 7000 votes.
The vice-chair of the Democratic Party the next day conceded it was human error and there was no dirty play involved. She was emphatic. She also trusted her party to do the right thing. Poor girl.
So after claiming victory with 200 votes, this twit wants a7300 margin verified.
Its those “out of state labor agitators” you gotta look out for! Sure, they start out, its all Woody Guthrie songs, but next thing you know, they call in their goons…
Eh, they’re within the margin that State law says the State will pay for a recount. It seems kinda silly for the State to then complain about having to pay for a recount when the vote is within that margin.
Finding 12,000 votes almost all Republican, after the election was over,on the Republican clerks personal PC, is too fishy to ignore. I would question it.
And yes, it’s within guidelines of a recount. Never said it wasn’t. Unless you can prove I said otherwise. You’re obviously overlooking the fact she declared victory with 200 votes but wants to insure integrity after losing by 7300. The best, I’m sure it’s on You Tube, is when she was asked afterward point-blank if she thought she won and there was a13 second pause while she formulated a non-answer.
I had the impression that the statement by the Democrat more or less was an expression of good faith that no shenanigans were afoot, an affirmation I’m inclined to accept at face value. Human error is entirely plausible. Besides which, I am unaware that the Democratic Party co-chair has some definitive power to “affirm” anything beyond her own personal opinion.
Be that as it may, a thorough investigation of the circumstances and an ordinary sort of recount is warranted, if only for the sake of public transparency, something we should demand of any electoral circumstances whatsoever.
So when she was ahead by only 200 why did she declare victory instead of a recount to make sure?
This is academic anyway. Can anyone find any election with this wide a margin that was ever overturned? Anywhere? I won’t even limit you to the US. We just had national attention conferred to us over current problems inherited (thanks for the buzzword Obama supporters) from the previous administration… Do we really need to make the children of Wisconsin and elderly suffer by wasting money on this? Really? Won’t you think of the children?
I don’t think there’s any reason not to declare victory when there’s a tight margin once you’ve been told the votes are in. Presumably she knew there’d be a recount but was confident she’d win it. If Prosser declares victory now, before the recount, I’d find it equally reasonable. Recounts rarely change outcomes.
In another state wherein the citizen’s cognitive capacities are not clotted by cheese, a Senatorial vote was overturned, and a stupid clown was turned out in favor of a smart one.
I don’t have extensive personal experience of recounts, but in my memory, it’s always like this.
The person who wins the initial count claims victory, and the person who doesn’t calls for the recount. Leaving aside for a moment any issues of party politics, would you ever expect the presumptive winner to ask for a recount?
It’s the same in football. The team on the “good” end of the call tries to get a snap off quickly so that the officials don’t have a chance to overturn the ruling, and the team on the “bad” end of the call throws the challenge flag. Would you expect it to work the other way around?
Man, I haven’t heard that one since 1966. How about “Lick the bag”? That was pretty big among the high school sophomore crowd in those days too. I don’t remember your type using those expressions though. Usually it was the semi-athletic, good-lookin’, rambunctious party types who threw those silly jibes around. Ah, well, who knows, maybe you were cool back then.
duffer, partisan bullshit aside, you talk like your preferred candidate/party wouldn’t have asked for an investigation had their opponent pulled thousands of votes out of a hat. Do you honestly believe it to be the case ? And more importantly would **you, **as a member of their electorate,have been satisfied had they done so and simply conceded the nomination to the hat puller, no contest ?
Of course you wouldn’t. Nobody would - because pulling thousands of votes from under the couch cushions is inherently suspicious. What you *should *be doing if you weren’t blinded by partisanship is welcoming the recount as, assuming your guy remains in the lead, it will categorically rule out foul play and give him a firmer mandate. And if he ends up losing, then you should also welcome the recount, for having avoided undemocratic results to pass.
Especially considering that the same district, under that person’s time there, has had other vote irregularities previously, including more votes between the candidates than actual ballots cast - time for an audit.
And yes, I would expect any vote leader, regardless of party or political race, to eventually declare themselves the winner, and the person trailing to either opt to call for a recount or to concede.
Also wanted to add in, for those not aware, that the clerk who found the extra votes also worked for Prosser in the mid 90’s while he was State Assembly Speaker.