Wisconsin

Republicans have found a spoiler candidate to challenge Rep. Jennifer Shilling in this summer's recall election, which would force a Democratic primary and extend the campaign by nearly a month.

James Smith, until recently a member of the La Crosse County GOP's executive committee, says he is running as a protest candidate.

Smith, a regular fixture at local labor protests this spring where he held signs touting his support for Gov. Scott Walker, said he resigned his party leadership position Monday before announcing his candidacy. He said he does not plan on campaigning aggressively but wants to protest the recall process.

Wisconsin: Nonpartisan Government Accountability Board faces partisan charges | JSOnline

Republicans are leveling charges of bias and partisanship against a state elections and ethics agency they helped set up just four years ago with the idea of making it completely nonpartisan.

And the pressure on the Government Accountability Board could get even more intense Wednesday, as the election and ethics board decides whether to schedule recall elections for three Democratic state senators, to go along with the six it's already set for Republicans.

Whichever way the six-member board's decision goes, it's likely to draw ire, and perhaps legal action, from whoever loses out.

Wisconsin: No recommendation made on three Wisconsin recall challenges | RealClearPolitics

Attorneys for the Wisconsin board that oversees elections are not recommending whether recall petitions targeting three Democratic state senators should be rejected or accepted, leaving that determination to the panel of retired judges that will consider the issue Wednesday.

A memo to the nonpartisan Government Accountability Board signed by its director, Kevin Kennedy, its lead attorney and other staff members released Tuesday addresses the complaints and discusses the evidence related to each one, but makes no recommendation on what to do.

Kennedy said the legal question over whether petitions targeting the three senators were fraudulent, and if so whether only parts or all of the petitions should be invalidated, was a legal determination that the board alone needed to make. The memo was designed to present them with the evidence and facts to help make their decision, Kennedy said.

Wisconsin: Supreme Court recount cost $520,000-plus, survey shows | madison.com

The recent recount in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race between Justice David Prosser and challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg cost counties more than $500,000, an Associated Press survey found.

The AP queried election officials in all 72 counties, asking for their best cost estimates. Seventy counties reported spending a total of nearly $520,500. The actual cost was likely higher because two counties and the state didn't provide estimates.

Waukesha County appears to have spent the most. It estimated its cost at $129,000, with more than a third of that going to pay a retired judge who oversaw the recount after the embattled county clerk recused herself.

Wisconsin: Waukesha County’s cost for Supreme Court recount: $130,000 | JSOnline

Waukesha County's 21-day recount of the Supreme Court election results cost county taxpayers about $130,000, county officials reported Tuesday.

Waukesha County's recount took longer than any other county in the state, in part because of the approach taken by the judge hired to run the recount and because more campaign observers were on hand and raised more concerns about ballots raised.

… The largest share of the cost - $47,000 - was for retired circuit Judge Robert Mawdsley, who was hired as temporary chairman of the Board of Canvassers after County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus recused herself.

Wisconsin: Wisconsin Senators Fight Sweeping Recalls | Courthouse News Service

June 7, 2011

Three Republican state senators have challenged the recall petitions that voters filed against them. And it looks like recall elections of three Democratic senators, if they occur, will come separately, a week after the six Republican recall elections scheduled for July 12.

The three Republicans' complaints are based on a technicality: that the recall petitioners are not identified as members of the Committees to Recall.

State senators Randy Hopper (Fond du Lac), Luther Olsen (Ripon) and Dan Kapanke (La Crosse) sued the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board in separate but virtually identical complaints in Dane County Court.

Wisconsin: Government Accountability Board mum on Nickolaus election inquiry | JSOnline

June 6, 2011

Although the state Government Accountability Board promised to release a detailed report of its April investigation of Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus' election operation by late June, it's unclear now when or if the report will be coming.

Reid Magney, spokesman for the board, said that because a formal complaint was filed with the board by the JoAnne Kloppenburg campaign, accusing Nickolaus of election law violations, new confidentiality restrictions apply under state law.

While he could confirm that a complaint was filed - one already released publicly by the Kloppenburg campaign - Magney said he couldn't comment on whether there is an investigation, or when an investigation might be complete.

Editorials: Grant Petty: Real ‘wake-up call’ is for ballot security | Wisconsin State Journal

June 6, 2011

Despite the title of Wednesday's editorial — "It's a wake-up call, all right" — the editors appear to be asleep at the wheel.

Referring to the Kloppenburg versus Prosser election mess, they make the valid narrow point that judicial elections should be abolished, but they fail to acknowledge the far broader ramifications of a tainted election system that is now used in all Wisconsin elections — not just judicial ones.

In view of the fiascoes in Waukesha, Verona and elsewhere, mere failure to prove that election fraud and/or incompetence might have tipped a very close election will not be enough to restore voters' confidence in this and future outcomes.

Wisconsin: Review of Wisconsin Democrats’ recalls extended a week – No election delay for Republicans; board sets date at July 12 | JSOnline

June 5, 2011

A Dane County judge on Friday granted state officials a week to determine whether three Democratic senators should be recalled, but declined to delay elections for six Republican senators.

Later Friday, the Government Accountability Board certified recall elections for July 12 for the Republican senators. Any recall elections for the Democrats would be held a week later, on July 19.

Editorials: An attack on elections with broad implications in Wisconsin | JSOnline

June 5, 2011

The past few days in Wisconsin were made for the 24-hour news cycle. To start, over the howling protests of their lawyers, bipartisan election officials approved petitions signed by tens of thousands of voters that established special recall elections for three Republican state senators. Then, a circuit judge struck down a controversial new law that would severely curb union bargaining rights, finding that the Senate improperly passed the law without allowing for public comment. "The right of the people to monitor the people's business is one of the core principles of democracy," she admonished.

Finally, in case anyone's blood pressure remained at normal levels, the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee voted to gut the state's Impartial Justice Act, which provides public funds for judges running for the state's highest court.

Even worse, the plan is to use the savings - about $1.8 million - toward implementing the new $7 million voter ID law signed by Gov. Scott Walker. Under the plan, all those Wisconsin voters who checked the box on their income tax form designating some of their taxes to fund clean judicial elections will instead see their tax dollars used for an unnecessary ID policy that will make voting in the Badger State more difficult than anywhere else in the country.

Wisconsin: Wisconsin GOP Discusses Planting Democratic Spoiler Candidate In Recall Election (AUDIO) | Huffington Post

June 2, 2011

Republicans in Wisconsin's La Crosse County recently discussed the possibility of finding a spoiler candidate to run against Democrat Jennifer Schilling in the race to recall state Sen. Dan Kapanke (R-La Crosse), a scenario they say would cost Democrats more money and delay the entire election.

The revelation, first published by the La Crosse Tribune, came from a secret recording made during the party's general membership meeting on May 25.

On the recording, which was obtained by The Huffington Post, La Crosse County Republican Party Vice Chairman Julian Bradley is heard recounting a conversation he had with Mark Jefferson, the executive director of the state party. "[W]e are actively keeping our ears to the ground and if anybody knows anybody for a candidate that would be interested on the Democratic side in running in the primary against Jennifer Shilling ... if anybody knows any Democrats who would be interested, please let us know," he said.

Editorials: Voter patience, participation necessary in Wisconsin recall process | Green Bay Press Gazette

June 2, 2011

As our state elections agency navigates uncharted territory in the recall of nine state senators, the problems and delays point to this: Voters should be more engaged in regular elections.

Had that happened in the previous cycle — when voters last fall put Republicans in charge of both houses of the Legislature and the governor's office — it is likely the outcome would have resulted in far fewer demands placed on the system. Instead, the elections agency is overburdened and lawmakers facing recalls must spend more time defending their position than legislating.

… It's unfortunate that in all the delays and challenges, accusations have been leveled against the top election official, Kevin Kennedy, for allegedly favoring Democrats. GOP supporters have said it is unfair to move forward in filing petitions against Republicans while taking more time to review Democratic challenges.

Wisconsin: Challenger in Wisconsin court race concedes | chicagotribune.com

Wisconsin Supreme Court challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg conceded defeat on Tuesday to conservative incumbent Justice David Prosser, in a race that was widely seen as a referendum on Republican Gov. Scott Walker's divisive legislation stripping most state workers of nearly all their collective bargaining rights.

Kloppenburg admitted defeat after a statewide recount reaffirmed Prosser's victory over her in the April 5 election.

"David Prosser has won the election and I have congratulated him," Kloppenburg said in a news conference in Madison. "I will not be requesting judicial review of the results of the recount."

Voting Blogs: Kloppenburg Concedes Wisconsin Supreme Court Election, Cites ‘Widespread Irregularities’, Says Problems Found During ‘Recount Should be Wake-Up Call’ | The Brad Blog

Citing a "cascade of irregularities", thousands of tabulation errors discovered during the statewide "recount", and tens of thousands of ballots found to be unverifiable or otherwise having been in violation of the secure chain of custody, Wisconsin's independent Asst. AG JoAnne Kloppenburg conceded the Wisconsin Supreme Court Election for a 10-year term on the bench to Republican incumbent Justice David Prosser this afternoon at a press conference held in Madison.

"Over 150 ballot bags containing tens of thousands of votes were found open, unsealed or torn. Waukesha County had twice as many torn, open or unsealed bags as every other county in the state combined. In many cases, municipal clerks in Waukesha testified the bags weren’t torn when they left cities, towns and villages so the security breaches occurred sometime when the bags were in Waukesha County’s custody."

Wisconsin: Backers of efforts to recall Senate Democrats call for top election official to resign | CapTimes

Residents connected to the recall efforts of three Democratic senators called for the states top election official to resign Tuesday, charging the agency he oversees is slanting recall results toward the Democrats.

The call for Kevin Kennedy, the director of the nonpartisan Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, to resign came after the agencys board voted Tuesday to move ahead with recall elections against three more Republican senators, while postponing its decision to vote on the petitions to recall three Democratic senators. Kennedy said the GAB needs more time to validate the signatures.

Wisconsin: Three more Wisconsin State Senate recalls certified, group accuses Government Accountability Board of bias | WTAQ

Wisconsin officials certified three more state Senate recall elections Tuesday. The Government Accountability Board said there were enough valid petitions to hold recall votes against Republicans Rob Cowles of Allouez, Sheila Harsdorf of River Falls, and Finance co-chair Alberta Darling of River Hills.

Tuesday’s action means that all 6 Republicans targeted for recalls will stand for election this summer – unless the board’s approvals are challenged in court. Last Friday, the Board delayed action on certifying recall votes against three Democratic senators.

Editorials: Supreme Court recount worthwhile? Our answer? Absolutely. | Appleton Post Crescent

May 31, 2011

The recount in the state Supreme Court race is done and, as expected, incumbent David Prosser is the winner over challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg. Prosser held a 7,316-vote lead heading into the recount and finished with a 7,006-vote lead.

So, the question is, was the recount worthwhile? Our answer? Absolutely.

On its face, the margin after the election — about a 7,000-vote victory with about 1.5 million votes case — was close enough to make a recount a legitimate request. But the extraordinary circumstances nearly demanded a recount.

Voting Blogs: State Election Board Failed to Review Minutes from Waukesha County ‘Recount’ Before Certifying Wisconsin Supreme Court Election Results | The Brad Blog

May 31, 2011

Last Monday, May 23rd, Wisconsin's Government Accountability Board (G.A.B.), the state's top election agency, officially certified [PDF] the controversial results of the extraordinarily close April 5th statewide Supreme Court election and its subsequent "recount".

However, as The BRAD BLOG has learned, the agency certified those results without reviewing hundreds of official exhibits documenting wholesale ballot irregularities, on-the-record objections from the attorneys of the candidate who filed for the "recount", and thousands of pages of official transcripts and minutes documenting the entire "recount" process from the election's most controversial county.

Wisconsin: Clerks say small-town poll workers may face shocked voters over new ID law | GazetteXtra

May 31, 2011

In the small towns of Walworth and Rock counties, voters and poll workers usually know each other, their kids and their kin. The friendly familiarity that clerks say has suppressed voter fraud might turn to hard feelings when photo identification becomes a voting requirement for the 2012 spring elections.

On the other hand, showing photo identification could prevent occasional misunderstandings by elderly, hard-of-hearing poll workers.

Wisconsin: Numerous Challenges Could Push Back Date of Wisconsin Recall Election | Fox Point-Bayside, WI Patch

May 30, 2011

Challenges filed by state Sen. Alberta Darling and three other senators against the recall petitions filed against them could push back the date of the recall elections, the state Government Accountability Board said Friday.

The board had tentatively set the date for all recall elections for July 12. However, that date was set before the four incumbents - Darling, and Democrats Jim Holperin, Robert Wirch and Dave Hansen - raised "numerous factual and legal issues" regarding the petitions, the board said.

Voting Blogs: Election Transparency Must be Apolitical | TrustTheVote

For those of you who have been following the recount saga in Wisconsin, here is a bit of news, and a reflection on that.

So, the news from a couple of days ago (I’m just catching up) is that the process of re-counting is complete, but the resolution of that close election may not be. The re-counting did not change which candidate is leading, and apparently expanded the margin slightly.

Trailing candidate Joanne Kloppenburg explains her motivation for the recount in a newspaper letter to the editor, building on the old but true assertion that, “One may be entitled to their own opinions, but they are not entitled to their own facts.”

Wisconsin: Wisconsin Governor Walker Signs Voter ID Law, Angering Democrats | Suite101.com

Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker signed a bill that will require voters to produce a photo identification card (Wisconsin issued driver's license, passport, military ID, or student ID with certain details) at the polls. Poll workers will begin to ask voters for identification on January 1, 2012, but it will not be required by law until the spring elections of 2012.

The primary rationale for the law, according to Republican proponents, is to combat voter fraud. Democrats, however, feel that the law is a political move to limit the vote of their biggest constituents.

Editorials: Scot Ross: Why voter ID bill may be unconstitutional | CapTimes

We believe Wisconsin’s new voter ID law is overly burdensome on voters and that the state is simply unequipped to administer this law and ensure legal voters will not be disenfranchised or subject to a poll tax. We continue to confer with legal counsel about what potential legal challenges can be made against Gov. Scott Walker’s voter suppression bill.

The bill originally was based on Indiana’s voter ID bill. According to the U.S. Supreme Court case upholding Indiana’s bill, the lower court found that “99 percent of Indiana’s voting age population already possesses the necessary photo identification to vote under the requirements.” The Supreme Court concluded that Indiana’s law was constitutional, specifically because so few Indianans were without the state-issued photo identification.

Wisconsin: Election officials wary over cost, implementation of Wisconsin voter ID bill | LaCrosse Tribune