# So the recount begins tomorrow. (WI Supreme Court) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 27, 2011, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-recount-begins-tomorrow-wi-supreme-court/579863 "2011-04-27T03:46:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-recount-begins-tomorrow-wi-supreme-court/579863/41 "2011-04-30T16:07:40Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > What, he left out the democratic part of letting the people select the new Senator? He left out the part where he explains why that’s a bad idea, and we should instead have the replacement chosen by an official of the party he happens to favor. I thought that was clear. > [@](#): > > Whatever, fuck, it’s all the same to me. Then you won’t mind stepping aside so that our republic can be kept by those of us citizens who do recognize and accept our responsibility for it, will you? > [@](#): > > My objection is identical to **Bricker** ’s – don’t change the rules in mid-stream for what are obviously partisan reasons. And you think that’s a stronger argument than “Avoid making the system better match the ideals of democracy for what are obviously partisan reasons”, huh? :rolleyes: I do think you need to think about this democracy stuff a little more deeply. > [@](#): > > It would appear that the voters of Massachusetts also objected. Where might you have gotten that idea from? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-recount-begins-tomorrow-wi-supreme-court/579863/42 "2011-04-30T16:17:04Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Where might you have gotten that idea from? They elected a senator of a different party, that’s where. You’re arguing that the changing of the law to allow appointment of a replacement senator by the governor was to further democracy. (At least, that’s the part of your argument that is not bizarre, incoherent, and illogical.) What a fucking idiot you are. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-recount-begins-tomorrow-wi-supreme-court/579863/43 "2011-04-30T16:21:31Z")
Much ado about not much. It was a close election and there were some irregularities. A recount is simply an administrative necessity in a case like this. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-recount-begins-tomorrow-wi-supreme-court/579863/44 "2011-04-30T16:39:36Z")
I just talked to our town clerk after they finished the recount for our county yesterday afternoon. She said that they found 14 errors, but the net change was only one more vote for Kloppenberg. There might have been more errors, but they were only counting votes for the one office. Our county uses paper ballots that are fed into an optical reader plus all-electronic voting devices. In most precincts, the choice is up to the voter. In our town, they began to run out of ballots about 10AM due to heavier than expected referendum voting. Since the county’s printing press was on the fritz, they got another electronic unit, which isn’t dependent upon paper ballots. No ballots were found under her bed or in the dumpster, but she looked. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-recount-begins-tomorrow-wi-supreme-court/579863/45 "2011-04-30T20:37:51Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > They elected a senator of a different party, that’s where. In what was then the future. And in the further future, they might again. In the operative election, based on information available at the time, no, they didn’t. But I think you know that. > [@](#): > > You’re arguing that the changing of the law to allow appointment of a replacement senator by the governor was to further democracy. The change of the law to prevent the appointment of a senator of the party opposed to the one chosen by the people in the last election was to further democracy. As I already fucking explained :rolleyes:. > [@](#): > > (At least, that’s the part of your argument that is not bizarre, incoherent, and illogical.) What a fucking idiot you are. Your cognitive deficits are your own problem. Have you seen a neurologist about treatment methods? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-recount-begins-tomorrow-wi-supreme-court/579863/46 "2011-05-01T23:34:44Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > In what was then the future. And in the further future, they might again. In the operative election, based on information available at the time, no, they didn’t. But I think you know that. Would you care to rewrite this in plain English? Or are you dependent on “1984” English? In the operative election, the citizens of Massachusetts elected Scott Brown (R-MA). > [@](#): > > The change of the law to prevent the appointment of a senator of the party opposed to the one chosen by the people in the last election was to further democracy. As I already fucking explained :rolleyes:. There’s a simple solution to that, and one which I can support. Pass a law that the governor must appoint a Senator of the same party as the former one. Massachusetts or Utah, same difference. A solution which the Massachusetts legislature did not choose. Instead the legislature chose to require a special election. (Which I also have no problem with.) What I do have a problem with is that when Kennedy died they changed the law again. In midstream. > [@](#): > > Your cognitive deficits are your own problem. Have you seen a neurologist about treatment methods? My cognitive deficits? Your partisan cognitive deficits verge on lunacy. In fact, I’m fairly certain that your cognitive deficit represents lunacy. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-recount-begins-tomorrow-wi-supreme-court/579863/47 "2011-05-02T02:25:47Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > …There’s a simple solution to that, and one which I can support. Pass a law that the governor must appoint a Senator of the same party as the former one. Massachusetts or Utah, same difference. A solution which the Massachusetts legislature did not choose… What happens if the seat were occupied by an independent? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-recount-begins-tomorrow-wi-supreme-court/579863/48 "2011-05-02T02:39:41Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > What happens if the seat were occupied by an independent? That’s actually a question for which I have no answer. I would hope that the relevant state legistlature did come up with an answer. (Though I wouldn’t bet money on it.) There are currently four different methods of providing for a replacement Senator, all of which have been adopted by the relevant state legislature. Any of those methods is fine by me, really, even Massachusetts’s method of appointing an interim Senator while waiting for a special election. I would hope I’ve made it clear that what does bother me is Massachusetts’ going to the current method purely in order to avoid a vacancy after Kennedy’s death. They knew, when they voted for a special election while Romney was governor, that that method would allow for a vacancy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-the-recount-begins-tomorrow-wi-supreme-court/579863.md?page=2)