The Journal Sentinel had called the County Clerk's office several times, and finally received a call back from a representative saying that the clerk wouldn't speak with them directly. So they then emailed Kathy Nickolaus, but never received a response.See the updates following the post below for more information.
Amidst all of the important and relevant questions regarding the significant change in Waukesha County's vote totals, it's troubling that we haven't been given any more details. The Waukesha County Clerk's office has had over 24 hours to answer some very simple questions to shed more light on the issues surrounding the "human error" that has been described as an honest mistake. Yet, the Journal Sentinel tried contacting the office and Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus several times today, but to no avail.
I'm not saying that anyone did anything improper, but I am saying that many doors to the county's election system appear to be left open that shouldn't and aren't in most, if not all, other counties in Wisconsin. With that, based on my knowledge as well as knowledge from others in the computer field, the delayed explanation we were given for the "human error" doesn't sound plausible, and so we must question.
Since we've been offered no further explanation, I'm left with no choice but to continue with the clearest picture I can imagine. Again, here's the latest counts in two different scenarios, one assuming the Brookfield votes weren't originally reported and one assuming the Brookfield votes were originally reported.
These counts are using the latest official numbers reported by counties at the completion of their canvass, all can be found at WisPolitics. Only two counties have yet to report their official results: Milwaukee and Outagamie.
These are the original numbers provided by the Associated Press.
(In alphabetical order)
| Kloppenburg: | 740,090 |
| Prosser: | 739,886 |
| Kloppenburg up by 204 votes in total | |
Scenario A: Brookfield votes were missing in original count
(In alphabetical order)
| Candidate | Net Gain | Counties |
|---|---|---|
| Kloppenburg | 481 | Brown(1), Buffalo(2), Dane(43), Door(12), Eau Claire(29), Grant(113), Green Lake(1), Iowa(30), Langlade(5), Lincoln(4), Kewaunee(1), Marinette(1), Monroe(2), Pepin(6), Portage(91), Richland(7), Rusk(31), Shawano(62), Sheboygan(1), Vernon(24), Washburn(5), Washington(10) |
| Prosser | 7,995 | Adams(2), Burnett(34), Calumet(1), Chippewa(5), Clark(28), Dodge(1), Dunn(5), Green(2), Jefferson(1), Juneau(8), Kenosha(60), Lafayette(10), Pierce(1), Sauk(1), Sawyer(2), Walworth(2), Waukesha(7582), Waupaca(1), Winnebago(244), Wood(5) |
| Prosser up by 7,310 votes in total | ||
Scenario B: Brookfield votes not missing from original count
(In alphabetical order)
| Candidate | Net Gain | Counties |
|---|---|---|
| Kloppenburg | 481 | Brown(1), Buffalo(2), Dane(43), Door(12), Eau Claire(29), Grant(113), Green Lake(1), Iowa(30), Langlade(5), Lincoln(4), Kewaunee(1), Marinette(1), Monroe(2), Pepin(6), Portage(91), Richland(7), Rusk(31), Shawano(62), Sheboygan(1), Vernon(24), Washburn(5), Washington(10) |
| Prosser | 592 | Adams(2), Burnett(34), Calumet(1), Chippewa(5), Clark(28), Dodge(1), Dunn(5), Green(2), Jefferson(1), Juneau(8), Kenosha(60), Lafayette(10), Pierce(1), Sauk(1), Sawyer(2), Walworth(2), Waukesha(179), Waupaca(1), Winnebago(244), Wood(5) |
| Kloppenburg up by 93 votes in total | ||
By demanding open election systems, we can add more transparency to our elections and avoid these situations altogether. A non-profit organization that has been successful in these efforts is the Open Voting Consortium.
If you are unfamiliar with the questions regarding the security of the Waukesha County election system and the delayed explanation of the "human error," you may find my earlier post informative.
Updated: (6:22pm) Corrected Kenosha County number from 50 to 60 and correctly placed the difference from Dunn County in Prosser's count.
Updated: (6:47pm) To keep counties associated with their respective numbers, I removed the space between them.
Updated: (7:10pm) Minor edits to paragraph on open election systems.
Update: (4/9/2011 4:55am) I noticed that the Journal Sentinel has removed from the article I referenced the statements regarding the various times and ways they tried to contact the Waukesha County Clerk's office Friday, and replaced them with "...Nickolaus, a Republican, made no new comment and didn't address the delay in reporting the problem." I also noticed that they no longer display the last time that any article was updated, which was, as recently as 5pm Friday, displayed under the title of each article both on the home page and on each article's page.
The article had statements similar to the Journal Sentinel had called the office several times, and finally received a call back from a representative saying that the clerk wouldn't speak with them directly. So they then emailed the clerk, but never received a response.
I appreciate the effort the Journal Sentinel took in trying to contact the Waukesha County Clerk's office and for making that information available to us. Unfortunately, I don't know when this detailed information was removed, and there appears to be no record that a change was made. Without the invaluable work the Journal Sentinel and other local news organizations do, we would have far less truth and far more suspicion.
Updated: (4/9/2011 5:26am) Added a rough estimate from my memory of the statements the article had included.
Updated: (4/9/2011 8:07am) New numbers in from Kewaunee and Richland counties provided by WisPolitics. Also, corrected count from Brown County adding a vote for Kloppenburg, thanks to WisPolitics for pointing it out in their count.
Update: (4/9/2011 5:06pm) The Journal Sentinel now appears to include the last updated time of each article again, but the time is not labeled as the last updated time. So it's not clear. The only way I know it's the updated time is because the article I've referenced several times has seen a major overhaul, including a new title which now reads, "Prosser camp open to Waukesha County-only recount."
Also, The Journal Sentinel still has their detailed information regarding when and how they tried to contact the Waukesha County Clerk's office on Friday removed from the article.
If you want to have your voice heard regarding the issues with the Waukesha County election system and the delayed explanation we were given for the "human error," the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board has a complaint form here: http://gab.wi.gov/node/1282. The election official in this case is Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus.
Update: (4/9/2011 9:27pm) Well, now I'm confused, but I'm trying to get this right. It appears that some of the Journal Sentinel articles show an updated time, and clearly the article I've referenced several times here has been changed. However, that article doesn't have an updated time, just the timestamp of April 9, 2011 5:21 p.m.. The statement that had replaced the original statements in the article, "...Nickolaus, a Republican, made no new comment and didn't address the delay in reporting the problem," no longer appears. It was in the article the last I checked at 5:06pm.
Update: (April 11, 7:39pm) Good news! It looks like the Journal Sentinel is doing the right thing by now clearly displaying if an article has been updated and when. At least with several articles I've seen including this one. It would be great if there was a brief record of any major changes so we can see how stories developed. The time the article was originally posted should always be displayed somewhere as well, but I'm glad things are back to the way they were.
Updated: (6:22pm) Corrected Kenosha County number from 50 to 60 and correctly placed the difference from Dunn County in Prosser's count.
Updated: (6:47pm) To keep counties associated with their respective numbers, I removed the space between them.
Updated: (7:10pm) Minor edits to paragraph on open election systems.
Update: (4/9/2011 4:55am) I noticed that the Journal Sentinel has removed from the article I referenced the statements regarding the various times and ways they tried to contact the Waukesha County Clerk's office Friday, and replaced them with "...Nickolaus, a Republican, made no new comment and didn't address the delay in reporting the problem." I also noticed that they no longer display the last time that any article was updated, which was, as recently as 5pm Friday, displayed under the title of each article both on the home page and on each article's page.
The article had statements similar to the Journal Sentinel had called the office several times, and finally received a call back from a representative saying that the clerk wouldn't speak with them directly. So they then emailed the clerk, but never received a response.
I appreciate the effort the Journal Sentinel took in trying to contact the Waukesha County Clerk's office and for making that information available to us. Unfortunately, I don't know when this detailed information was removed, and there appears to be no record that a change was made. Without the invaluable work the Journal Sentinel and other local news organizations do, we would have far less truth and far more suspicion.
Updated: (4/9/2011 5:26am) Added a rough estimate from my memory of the statements the article had included.
Updated: (4/9/2011 8:07am) New numbers in from Kewaunee and Richland counties provided by WisPolitics. Also, corrected count from Brown County adding a vote for Kloppenburg, thanks to WisPolitics for pointing it out in their count.
Update: (4/9/2011 5:06pm) The Journal Sentinel now appears to include the last updated time of each article again, but the time is not labeled as the last updated time. So it's not clear. The only way I know it's the updated time is because the article I've referenced several times has seen a major overhaul, including a new title which now reads, "Prosser camp open to Waukesha County-only recount."
Also, The Journal Sentinel still has their detailed information regarding when and how they tried to contact the Waukesha County Clerk's office on Friday removed from the article.
If you want to have your voice heard regarding the issues with the Waukesha County election system and the delayed explanation we were given for the "human error," the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board has a complaint form here: http://gab.wi.gov/node/1282. The election official in this case is Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus.
Update: (4/9/2011 9:27pm) Well, now I'm confused, but I'm trying to get this right. It appears that some of the Journal Sentinel articles show an updated time, and clearly the article I've referenced several times here has been changed. However, that article doesn't have an updated time, just the timestamp of April 9, 2011 5:21 p.m.. The statement that had replaced the original statements in the article, "...Nickolaus, a Republican, made no new comment and didn't address the delay in reporting the problem," no longer appears. It was in the article the last I checked at 5:06pm.
Update: (April 11, 7:39pm) Good news! It looks like the Journal Sentinel is doing the right thing by now clearly displaying if an article has been updated and when. At least with several articles I've seen including this one. It would be great if there was a brief record of any major changes so we can see how stories developed. The time the article was originally posted should always be displayed somewhere as well, but I'm glad things are back to the way they were.
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