Unbelievable: Despite trailing by 7,000+ votes, Kloppenburg demands a recount

posted at 5:40 pm on April 20, 2011 by Allahpundit

No, sorry, wrong word choice on my part. Not only is it believable, I predicted that she’d do it. The word I’m looking for, given her minute chances of making up a lead this big and the more than $1 million price tag for taxpayers, is “pathetic.”

Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg requested Wednesday a statewide recount – the first in 22 years – to check the results in the April 5 election for state Supreme Court race she lost to Justice David Prosser, the Government Accountability Board said…

Kloppenburg also called on the board to appoint a special investigator to probe the “actions and words” of Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus…

State elections officials scoured [Nickolaus's] canvass report and the April 5 election results over four days during an on-site investigation. On Tuesday, the Government Accountability Board issued a report saying except for a few “anomalies,” the canvass report and municipal election returns were consistent so no revisions in the canvass were needed. The board intends to issue a report within 60 days on other questions about Nickolaus’ elections operation.

Kloppenburg said an investigation of the Waukesha County clerk was necessary and that something must be done so that “real change” comes to election practices and procedures in Waukesha County.

The point of this, of course, isn’t to seriously contest a 7,000-vote deficit. The point is to keep the left motivated by doing whatever possible to question the legitimacy of Prosser’s win. (Sample quote from a Wisconsin AFL-CIO official: “This race was a dead heat before something questionable happened in Waukesha.”) The angrier they get about a “stolen election” that wasn’t stolen, the better liberal turnout should be in the coming recall elections they’re eyeing to flip the state senate back to a Democratic majorty. And they’re not just playing offense, either: Grassroots conservatives are set to file not one, not two, but three recall petitions against the fleebaggers tomorrow, so Democrats need their base at the polls to protect those seats while they target four Republican incumbents elsewhere. Exit quotation: “I want to thank these 14 AWOL senators who left the state, because they absolutely engaged the citizens of Wisconsin to stay involved.”

Update: Via Gateway Pundit, here was her reaction the morning after the election, when her margin was a whopping 204 votes.

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She declared “victory” the day after the election, with a bare lead of 204 votes, and prior to any county-by-county canvassing to check the basic math totals for all Wisconsin jurisdictions.

At that April 6th presser, a self-described “ecstatic” Joanne Kloppenburg, was closely questioned about the judgement of claiming that she had won before any vote tallies had been matched up with county totals. She simply refused to respond to the reporters’ questions. Instead she kept saying “no” and repeating that her campaign had enjoyed support statewide, and that the numbers showed that she had won.

Over the course of nearly two weeks, every single county in Wisconsin checked and re-checked their tallies against the municipal reports, with the ultimate result that Justice Prosser was declared the victor a few days ago with a .

In other words, she had no problem with an unchecked 204 vote margin showing her slightly ahead, but somehow now that we know that Justice Prosser prevailed with well over 7 thousand votes, she thinks a recount, and the wasting of a huge amount of state taxpayer money to conduct that full recount, is somehow a legitimate request!

Trochilus on April 20, 2011 at 10:59 PM

Keep the attention on the Wisconsin judicial race. The left wing Democrats will attempt fraud in order to steal the election if they can get away with it.

Phil Byler on April 20, 2011 at 10:59 PM

Don’t believe, in the history of state elections of any kind, that a 7300 vote lead has ever been overcome in a recount. Even a 730 vote lead is hard to overturn. But WAIT—What are those purple shirted union people doing? Driving truckloads of “uncounted” votes from all over the country into Wisconsin.10,000 “new” votes and 100% of them are for Kloppenburg. Isn’t that amazing!!!!!!!

MaiDee on April 20, 2011 at 11:09 PM

Kloppenburg said an investigation of the Waukesha County clerk was necessary and that something must be done so that “real change” comes to election practices and procedures in Waukesha County so that the Democrat always wins. Always.

What she was really saying.

Fact is that there never was a problem with the count in that county, the only problem was that the vote total provided to the Associated Press was incorrectly filed because the clerk failed to his “save”. The real numbers were always there, the press just didn’t get them. … and I can’t recall in any state law anywhere where the press is considered the official record for election canvasses. In the sane world, the press merely reports the results

AZfederalist on April 20, 2011 at 11:21 PM

crash72 on April 20, 2011 at 10:04 PM

I am sorry you’re disappointed, please don’t say stuff like that.

Cindy Munford on April 20, 2011 at 11:27 PM

canopfor on April 20, 2011 at 8:55 PM
=================
Hey good bud’

OmahaConservative on April 20, 2011 at 9:19 PM

OmahaConservative:Were hitting and missing,good to see ya:)

canopfor on April 21, 2011 at 12:00 AM

Everyone has a useful purpose in life, some way they can positively impact others’ lives.

For example, Kloppenburg could serve to help make sure children eat their vegetables – parents could say, “If you don’t finish your vegetables, the ugly witch will come and get you!”

Adjoran on April 21, 2011 at 1:25 AM

soreloserwomum.

bayview on April 21, 2011 at 1:54 AM

That is one vacant stare….that creepy old bat really gives me the willies!!

Tim_CA on April 21, 2011 at 2:24 AM

Apart from being a complete waste of money this is good news.

WI voters get to see one more glaring example of the Dems complete disregard for the state’s finances, and the continued engagement on the left is going to be coutnered by a similar engagement on the right (the same way our disgust at their behavior in Madison helped us counter the left’s motivation and propel Prosser to victory in the first place).

BadgerHawk on April 21, 2011 at 3:41 AM

Standard Dem. ploy these days – just keep counting and discovering ballots until you are ahead, then declare election is over.

Worked for the SNL alum.

fred5678 on April 21, 2011 at 5:17 AM

I imagine a printing press is working overtime right now to generate the necessary ballots for a Democratic victory.

zoyclem on April 21, 2011 at 6:59 AM

She’s an assistant AG. Doesn’t that mean she reports to Van Holland? Does anyone know what discretion he has to influence her future after she loses the recount?

Barnestormer on April 21, 2011 at 7:21 AM

I agree with you fred5678, this is the Dem’s MO now. If it’s close and a Dem is ahead the Rep. should accept it and move on. If it’s close and a Rep. is ahead, to hell with what it costs or how much time it takes to recount, that election has to have been stolen.

We have to start doing everything we can to inform those around us to make sure elections are not close enough to allow a recount.

Sporty1946 on April 21, 2011 at 7:23 AM

Sporty1946 on April 21, 2011 at 7:23 AM

2nd that

cmsinaz on April 21, 2011 at 7:24 AM

Kloppenburg is only following orders. Look for the person behind the curtain

GrayDog on April 21, 2011 at 7:33 AM

I supported her.

Now, I despise her.

What a disgusting “human being”.

Now, I pray for a terminal disease.

crash72 on April 21, 2011 at 8:52 AM

Now, I pray for a terminal disease.

crash72 on April 21, 2011 at 8:52 AM

For whom?

Cindy Munford on April 21, 2011 at 8:58 AM

Go for it lady. You pay for it……

adamsmith on April 21, 2011 at 9:16 AM

…and suddenly 8000 ballots magically appear in the trunk of a car in Madison giving Kloppenburg a 600 vote lead.

A liberal activist judge loses.

Carl on April 21, 2011 at 9:32 AM

Fact is that there never was a problem with the count in that county, the only problem was that the vote total provided to the Associated Press was incorrectly filed because the clerk failed to his “save”. The real numbers were always there, the press just didn’t get them.

This error resulted in zero votes, for either candidate, for an entire city (Brookfield). How can someone who wants to sit on the state Supreme Court try to disenfranchise an entire city just because lots of conservatives live there and she wants to win an election?

But if there are still any spare blank ballots out there, honest state officials need to have them shredded, before 8,000 of them are magically marked for Kloppenberg.

Steve Z on April 21, 2011 at 9:47 AM

It would have been nice to read this without that video on the left popping up and covering the text.

John Deaux on April 21, 2011 at 10:14 AM

Hey, she has a right to a recount under the circumstances. What’s scandalous is the way she allowed herself to be tied to an implied promise that she would rule against the governor and legislature. She should have made it clear that this was not a partisan election, that it is improper to politicize it and that the unions should stay out of it. How could anybody trust her to rule impartially on the merits of the cases before the court after this?

flataffect on April 21, 2011 at 12:36 PM

Just gotta say it – but when Richard Nixon (the most dishonorable President in history – ask any Lib and he’ll tell ya!) narrowly lost the 1960 election to JFK – there was much evidence of widespread election fraud. Eisenhouer offered to impound the ballots of several states for a recount …

Nixon however, refused one. And why? Because Nixon understood that a President needs to have legitimacy to be respected by ALL Americans. Sure – had Nixon known for sure he’d win the recount – he’d have probably taken one – but as it were, with no guarantee of that – he wanted to make sure that JFK had the legitimacy of office he needed to exercise his authority as President.

This was Nixon – a man with some morals. Obviously – I am not talking about Al Gore, or Al Franken, or Klippity Klopper here. They should not be confused with Nixon – as they think of no one but themselves.

HondaV65 on April 21, 2011 at 12:45 PM

Vicki McKenna is reporting that some leftists are attempting to organize an effort to infiltrate the Prosser recount volunteers:

http://fb.me/ERj79K0Z

http://twitter.com/#!/VickiMcKenna/status/60889832901185537

http://www.vickimckenna.com/

jjrakman on April 21, 2011 at 12:50 PM

Madison — Supreme Court Justice David Prosser angrily repeated his denial Thursday that he had met with Gov. Scott Walker shortly after the court election, denouncing his opponent’s campaign for making the claim.

Melissa Mulliken, the campaign manager for Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg, made the claim Wednesday in a complaint filed with the state Government Accountability Board. That complaint sought an inquiry into the Waukesha County clerk, not Prosser.

Mulliken alleges Prosser had a one-on-one meeting with Walker, a Republican, on the day after the election – a charged allegation in an officially nonpartisan race where the candidates questioned each other’s claims of political independence.

The next day, Walker’s administration asked the Supreme Court to quickly get involved in a Dane County case that has blocked implementation of Walker’s controversial plan to sharply limit collective bargaining for public employees.

Prosser said since the election he never met in private with either the governor or any of his staff.

“The idea that I would go to the governor’s office is just patently untrue. There is not a shred of evidence. That is pure malice,” Prosser said Thursday in an interview.

Walker aide Chris Schrimpf also denied Wednesday the two officials met on April 6.

Also Thursday, state elections officials said they won’t step away from their review of the county clerk’s handling of the Supreme Court election despite of a call for that by Kloppenburg

Kloppenburg, who is trailing Prosser in the race, asked Wednesday for the accountability board to appoint a special investigator to probe the “actions and words” of Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus. Although the board is an independent agency and was already reviewing Nickolaus’s handling of the election, Kloppenburg said she believed the agency worked too closely with Nickolaus to properly investigate her.

jsonline.

The smears continue. Prosser. The clerk. And now the government accountability board. The GAB is “too close” to the investigation of the Waukesha County clerk to do a thorough job, so a special investigator should be appointed, according to Kloppenburg.

Kloppenburg is afraid the GAB will essentially clear the clerk of wrongdoing, so the GAB must now be on the receiving end of Alinskyite tactics.

Wethal on April 21, 2011 at 4:31 PM

Supreme Court Justice David Prosser and Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg have reached a compromise on doing a hand recount in their tight race in certain areas of the state but not the entire state.

Dane County Judge Richard Niess approved the deal Thursday, allowing the statewide recount to go forward, with a hand recount in the specific areas.

Jim Troupis, an attorney for Prosser, said the hand recount would be held in areas in which older voting machines do not allow their data to be copied, which would require their data to be destroyed before the machines could be used in a recount. That would involve municipalities in at least 31 counties.

“In those areas we’ve agreed to a hand recount,” Troupis said.

Kloppenburg attorney Susan Crawford said her side agreed as well.

“We think this is a fair result,” Crawford said.

In approving it, Niess said that the deal was “absolutely the right way to go.”

MOre js online.

A hand recount would allow Kloppenburg to challenge individual ballots for Prosser. Probably not enough challenges to get past his lead.

Wethal on April 21, 2011 at 4:52 PM

Just another liberal proving liberalism is a mental disorder. They do not believe the truth to be what the facts present, but what they “think” it should be.

volsense on April 23, 2011 at 12:33 PM

From the Daily Kos Kloppenburg Victory Thread:

Can Wisconsin afford a recount, (10+ / 0-)

during a budget crisis?

Prosser should do what is best for his state, which is experiencing a horrific budget crisis, and just concede quietly.

War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength.

by Beelzebud on Wed Apr 06, 2011 at 03:15:16 PM PDT

unclesmrgol on April 26, 2011 at 1:25 AM

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