WI's Supreme Court Election Recount is a Mess

[BradBlog]

WI's Supreme Court Election Recount is a Mess

Wisconsin is no Minnesota.

Where Minnesota's post-election hand count of the 2008 U.S. Senate election between then Sen. Norm Coleman and now Sen. Al Franken was, as we wrote at the UK's Guardian at the time, "one of the longest and most transparent election hand-counts in the history of the US," Wisconsin has made it extremely difficult (putting it nicely) to know what the hell is actually going on in their statewide "recount" of the April 5th, 2011 state Supreme Court election between Justice David Prosser and Asst. Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg.

Where Minnesota's chief election official, Sec. of State Mark Ritchie, oversaw a process to ensure that updated and accurate numbers were easily tracked and transparently shared with the media on a daily basis, Wisconsin's chief election authority, their Government Accountability Board (G.A.B.), has posted (and even sometimes removed) confusing, misleading, and unclear updates, often with inaccurate information, on various schedules, and frequently with little or no explanation for wholesale changes and deletion of data.

Where Minnesota counted every vote by hand with full public scrutiny, including photographs and video cameras, Wisconsin is tabulating ballots, often by the same oft-failed, easily-manipulated computer systems that counted them in the first place, behind barriers that preclude broad public oversight, under an agreement between both campaigns which disallows the use of video cameras by observers.

The count, which began last Wednesday, often feels as if it's happening in virtual darkness, at least to those of us trying to observe from afar, but the same sentiment has been shared with us by many we've spoken to who are there on the ground. There is an alarming lack of transparency to help the citizenry oversee the process in order to ensure accountability and an accurate count. To make matters worse, if that's possible, chain of custody issues for the ballots appear questionable in a number of reported cases, after ballots have been kept in the same darkness by election officials --- sometimes securely, sometimes not --- for the three weeks following the election and prior to the "recount".

One person we've spoken to who has also been trying desperately, as we have, to closely follow along with the progress, described the situation over the weekend by saying: "Let's call it 'fascinatingly unacceptable'. There are other 'f' words I could use, but we'll leave it at that."

Another Election Integrity veteran was forced to reach for a "bright side" by saying: "It may be worse than Minnesota, but, hey, at least it's no Florida!"

We've not written here about WI's Supreme Court "recount" since it began last Wednesday, largely because we've had such a difficult time making heads or tails of the progress, the accuracy, the integrity of the ballots or the counting, or even of the various reports of bizarre anomalies which continue to occur, often with little explanation for their resolution...

FULL STORY: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8507

[patrice]

1. People here were saying this would happen going into this, so I guess Kloppenburg

expected it too, but decided in favor of the re-count anyway. I bet all of the bullshit is being fully documented, which will be a valuable resource for the people of Wisconsin.

[BradBlog]

2. More valuable...

More valuable...making some noise about it. In court. Not waiting for "later" when it WILL be too late for anybody to give a damn or call you anything but "sore loser".

[patrice]

4. WHERE the frak is our "Rove"???? Do we even have one?

[Name removed]

28. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[cognoscere]

34. No, we don't. Dems,libs, progressives, and even libertarians,

live under the delusion that to use the bad guys' tactics to defeat them somehow makes the good guys as bad or even worse than the bad guys - a condition the repubs are all to aware of and use to our disadvantage whenever possible.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

23. A valuable resource ... maybe the documents will go into a museum

so future generations can see how we got screwed and nothing was done about it. If we still have museums, that is.

[azul]

3. The recount mess is the alarm bell going off.

The mess displays the situation where no one can say for certain who won an election. This means that the voting system is flawed and that this democracy is suspended until this mess is cleaned-up.

Multiple alarm bells have sounded over the past elections. Do we need international observers to discredit US elections for the alarms to make sense and take action? What?

[BradBlog]

8. Alarm bells

"Do we need international observers to discredit US elections for the alarms to make sense and take action? What?"

The international community has already scoffed at the way we now run elections. I keep ringing and ringing the bell myself. But that's about all I can do.

Here's the bell I tried to ring on our national airwaves a few weeks back, following on the problems revealed in the WI Supreme Court election. Ran it here, but few seemed to notice, unfortunately: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8463

[eowyn_of_rohan]

24. thank YOU, Brad, for your hard work over the years.

I remember when you started your site. I am listening to your Gold Standard video now...and much likin' it.

[lonestarnot]

5. That news sucks ass. I'm sorry to hear that.

[ooglymoogly]

6. The sausage factory of crooked elections has to be

covered up somehow....on the theory no no one wants to see what goes into the sausage that is destroying this country.

[pacalo]

7. Sounds like all the ingredients for election manipulation are there.

Both the GAB & the judge seem shifty. The GAB seems too laid-back in recording its daily numbers & dismisses concerns with a we-won't-know-until-the-minutes-are-read pat answer. Then the judge insists that the third just-discovered bag be opened before the other two already-present bags -- even after Bill the attorney objected.

So many shifty circumstances to list; one has to read the entire article to appreciate the situation.

This is really disturbing, considering the problems with some of the bags in Delafield, Prosser's county, & that he spent most of the day there on April 6th:

17. On Wednesday, April 6, 2011, Justice Prosser was observed entering the Governor's Office late in the evening and attending a private, on-on-one (sic) meeting with Governor Scott Walker.

18. Governor Scott Walker made public statements on Wednesday, April 6, 2011, commenting that there might be "ballots somewhere, somehow found out of the blue that weren't counted before."

Again, special thanks to eowyn_of_rohan, Lefta Dissenta, & PeaceNikki for doing all that you are doing. That goes for you, too, Brad!

[BradBlog]

9. Yup...

...And thank YOU, Pacalo, for taking the time to read the full piece! And for pulling out just one of the key points.

Yes, there is a LOT in there! Sorry about that! :-)

[Left coast liberal]

27. Yeah Brad, you have been totally 100% on all these stories. Thank you!

[The Wizard]

10. Anytime vote counting is concealed from public scrutiny

democracy is compromised. Stalin knew how to rig elections and Republicans follow his model.
The United States Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that votes don't have to be counted and by extension elections don't matter. The felonious five did their dirty work and continue to erode the foundation upon which this nation was begun. Unless and until the majority of the USSC becomes more than partisan hacks we as a nation will suffer under the heel of authoritarian fascism.

[PeaceNikki]

12. It's not.

They are all 100% open to the public.

[Vinnie From Indy]

14. Gee whiz Nikki! How do you expect Brad to get people to his web site

if you keep tossing out factoids like this? It sure gums up the works.

Cheers!

[PeaceNikki]

15. Fuck that. The recount is going very well and is being done with a great deal of integrity

We are seeing some anomalies with regards to the way that local clerks are handling things on and after the election and we are doing EXACTLY what we should be doing. I take offense at calling the recount a "mess".

[eowyn_of_rohan]

20. I don't see this as an attack on you or us, as observers. This is more about the GAB

I'm not sure about them, as you know, but am holding judgment for now...But it seems wrong that there has not been even one GAB rep on the scene in a single county, and their method of reporting figures is a mess.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

21. Not all have been open to the observers as they should have been

please see post #18 v

[eowyn_of_rohan]

18. Not all, PN. Take Ozaukee County for example

Observers were supposed to have the opportunity to visually inspect each ballot, long enough to keep a tally of their candidate's votes, anyway, as per statement by kennedy. Instead, the workers slammed piles of ballots through the machine without giving observers that chance. Attorneys were on the scene & multiple "reports" have been filed, but will we ever know what "anomalies" or miscounts there were?

[BradBlog]

30. Public not allowed to video tape, and...

...more importantly (or, as importantly), G.A.B.'s updates are very problematic as I detail in the full article, and ballots are being tabulated in secret on the same electronic systems that tabulated them the first time in many areas.

My full article details many more problems and specifics on them, but I welcome your countering information if you have it.

Other than that, PLEASE see the much more detailed response to your concerns that I posted below!

[sybylla]

36. The GAB has been falling down on this job.

But their job is only to report what's happening on the ground and to answer questions.

The recount I observed was far from a mess. The Marathon County Board of Canvass was open, gracious, helpful and even broadcast all phone calls - whether it was to get clarification from municipal clerks or to speak with an official at the GAB - on a speaker phone for all observers to hear.

Are there problem counties. Sure. Does the GAB suck. Yep. They knew this was coming. They required the county clerks to report their results at the end of every day. But they failed to have the staff in place to cope with it so it could be posted as quickly.

FYI, the GAB is run by a former Tommy Thompson hack, Kevin Kennedy. If you recall correctly, Kennedy originally wanted paperless electronic voting machines and was trumped by the SOS.

So it's no surprise they've fumbled the recount ball in GAB. It's also no surprise that they are not hold the bad players to account.

But I do take issue with using a broad brush to paint all the county canvasses as "a mess."

[BradBlog]

38. Yup...

"But I do take issue with using a broad brush to paint all the county canvasses as "a mess." "

I don't think I said that "all county canvasses" are "a mess". I tried to be quite specific in my article (witness by the fact of how long it is, with all that detail!).

As a matter of fact, I don't think I blamed anybody for anything. Just reported the facts, so folks can decide for themselves.

I *very* much appreciate your input and your thoughts, even where they counter my own observations. Mostly, I appreciate the fact that you've been out to the counting room to observe the process!

[PeaceNikki]

11. This is a recount, NOT a fraud investigation. We are counting and GAB is giving you all the #'s.

Waukesha's recount is streaming live on the internet every minute. There are anomalies and they are being noted in great detail on the official record. What more do you want?

[eowyn_of_rohan]

16. We want something to come of the "notes" re the anomalies

...and for there to BE an investigation. By an independent investigator.

[PeaceNikki]

17. Indeed. But that's not PART of the recount. The recount is to count ballots and properly get

the anomalies into evidence. We're doing that.

[LiberalAndProud]

22. I hope that is enough. Getting the anomalies into evidence is important.

It is a question though, what will happen in the aftermath. It will be less than satisfying if nothing comes of it. That is my fear, that we will note the anomalies and move on with business as usual in spite of them.

[BradBlog]

32. Both campaigns have the right to GET TO COURT to demand accountability for anomalies...

...Yet they are not doing so. After the count, believe me, it will be WAY too late to do ANYTHING about any of them. See my more robust response to your concerns below.

[BradBlog]

31. Well, actually...

Actually, it's not a "recount" at all, in most of WI, it's a count, since the ballots were not actually counted by human beings at all up until now (except for the few areas which do hand counts). And, even now, only some of the ballots are being counted by hand.

Furthermore, it's both a count AND a fraud investigation AND a reconciliation. Or, at least, it should be. For example, counting ballots does little unless the chain of custody has been secure and documented and BLANK UNVOTED BALLOTS are also counted and accounted for, and compared against both poll books AND the receipts from printers and distribution lists to precincts/wards.

The G.A.B. has been giving inaccurate numbers and incomplete results reports. They have improved as of Monday, but there are still a LOT of missing numbers from the reports (notably, the "Total Ballots Cast" as counted in each of the counting units -- that, despite the G.A.B. directive the day before the count began to Counties to including that number in their nightly emails to the G.A.B.) There are also numerous other problems with the G.A.B.'s reporting, as detailed in my full article.

But, again, please see my more complete response to you below. And thanks again for all you're doing out there!!!

[PeaceNikki]

33. bullshit. It's a RECOUNT, not a "recount" and not a fraud investigation.

SEVENTY EIGHT PERCENT of the ballots scanned are being counted by hand.

You can scream about what you THINK a recount should be, but your opinion doesn't change what it IS. We ARE reconciling poll books and counting blank ballots.

Whatever, I am done kicking this thread and I am not going to give your blog any traffic and I am done with you and your Fox-like exaggeration of matters.

[BradBlog]

35. Again, you may be unaware of how recounts OR "recounts" work...

It is not a "recount" if ballots have not been counted by anybody in the first place (as they have not been in WI, where all but the few jurisdictions that do hand counts, have done no examination of ballots to assure the oft-failed, easily-manipulated op-scan systems and 100% unverifiable DREs tabulated ballots accurately in the first place.) Finally, *now* they are being counted for the first time. Some of them.

That's why there are quotes around the word "recount" when I use them here.

"SEVENTY EIGHT PERCENT of the ballots scanned are being counted by hand."

You mentioned that before, and suggested I had misreported that. I did not. Don't know where your 78% percent number comes from, in either case. Is that 78% of all ballots cast in the state? In Waukesha County? In any case, as I've reported in great detail, many times, some or all of 31 counties are being counted by hand in this "recount". So I'm not sure what you're quarrel is with me on the above.

BTW, stipulating your 78% number is correct, I'll remind you the unverified results showed a 0.488% margin between Prosser and Kloppenburg. Even if the 78% number is accurate and even if the chain of custody for all of those ballots were pristine (it is not, not by a long shot), that still leaves 22% of the ballots in which a change of just 0.244% would reverse the current results of the election.

That's about one half of a vote flipped from Prosser to Kloppenburg at each ward in the state and you've got a different winner of the election.

"You can scream about what you THINK a recount should be, but your opinion doesn't change what it IS. We ARE reconciling poll books and counting blank ballots."

Glad to hear it. Are you comparing the blank unvoted and spoiled ballots to the printer's distribution list to make sure all ballots printed are accounted for? Hoping so!

"Whatever, I am done kicking this thread and I am not going to give your blog any traffic and I am done with you and your Fox-like exaggeration of matters."

Good lord. I asked you for any example of anything I've reported incorrectly. You've not shared any such points, to my knowledge, yet you are furious at me. No clue why. Sorry, in any case, that you are. Especially as I suspect we both have very much the same goals in mind.

[Ellipsis]

41. Hehehehheheheh. Watch out BRAD, I have NO doubt she'll drive out there and KICK YOUR ASS...

Okay a couple points. The recount in reference to the cultural personality of the state, has been pretty much on par with what you'd expect. With some exceptions.

Winnebago county Fon Du Lac county and Marathon County percentages seem incorrect for how I know the state. The only county that use DRE's exclusively is Peirce... all the other s use them for disability access only. Yes I get the aspect for potential manipulation on the DRE's. I 'd be curious to know how many vendors are involved or more specifically how many technicians maintain them since they are spread out over 72 counties.


Taking the Optec Eagles out of the mix There are Acuvotes in 5 counties exclusively that I just don't trust, that being red as sin Ozaukee, Calumet, Kenosha, Washington and surprisingly Door county. In St. Croix, Vilas, Winnebago, Green the recount numbers were posted quite quickly. I kinda doubt that there was close inspection of the ballots, but I don't know. I wasn't there. Chippewa, Sauk and "Red" Dodge, Walworth has them but they took more time to report as A matter of fact majority Sauk had not reported as of yesterday. and I suspect they took a closer look at the ballots. Waupaca as well but I'd have to check when they reported in.

Also Marathon uses M100's exclusively The numbers there just don't seem right. Other counties using M100's are Columbia, Portage has one, Manitowoc a couple, Douglas has several, Bayfield has three and Adams, Ashland, and Clark each has one. The M100 does not have a real time Audit log.


I wouldn't qualify the recount as messy... I might qualify the vote in Waukesha as messy incompetent and suspicious.

[Ellipsis]

43. She's right you do sensationalize to get your clicks.

[Overseas]

13. K&R.

[PeaceNikki]

19. You're also reporting inaccurate info.

Over 78% of the scanned ballots are being recounted BY HAND. We can take photos and audio and are being ENCOURAGED to do this by the Board of Canvassers.

Meh to you and your ridiculous assessment of this. Go... observe a recount here, I am. Watch the stream live online.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

25. Lol- we can't see much watching the stream

Online, we don't see any more than do the public observers, who can't get near enough the tables to see the ballots or poll lists. That is why we need reports from people who are official campaign rep observers! :toast:

[BradBlog]

29. You're referring to me?

Don't know if you're referring to me, in your remark about "reporting inaccurate info". If so, I'd be happy to respond to any specific points you feel I've gotten wrong (and issue a correction where it's determine that I have, in fact, gotten something wrong.)

First, let me say that your reports on your observations at the "recount", as posted here at DU have been EXCEEDINGLY helpful and valuable. I can't thank you enough for BOTH!

Please realize, however, that other observers, both on the ground and afar, have a different story to tell. Some of those folks, like myself, are long time observers/investigators of such post-election counts, and know very much what the red flags are, AS WELL AS what happens when nothing other than "noting them for the record" occurs. In short, its next to impossible to see ANY action take place AFTER the proceedings are over and the election officially certified, candidate seated etc.

I could offer you cites to MANY different examples of this. Ohio 2004 (where fraud was discovered and election officials were even sentenced to jail for the maximum penalty for gaming the recount) saw no changes to anything because the full recount was not allowed and no official action was taken by the candidates at the time to keep the election from being certified on schedule, evidence of fraud and all. Or you could talk to the folks in Pima County, AZ (Tucson) who have been fighting for accountability for a 2006 election with paper ballots, evidence of tampering, affidavits of fraud from officials and 5 years later (and hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal bills later) they are still fighting for accountability even as they realize it's too late to change the results of the election EVEN IF it's conclusively shown that election was flipped via electronic fraud by insider election officials.

I believe what I'm trying to say here, is that, as eowyn_of_rohan has pointed out, I am not bashing you or the observers, or even the county canvassers. They are all proceeding as instructed. The main problems seem to come from a lack of oversight and strict procedures and accurate transparent reports from the state G.A.B., as well as a lack of action being taken by candidates (Kloppenburg's team most notably in this case) IMMEDIATELY as problems are discovered. I guarantee if Prosser was behind in the canvassed count and problems of the sort showing up in Waukesha and elsewhere were being discovered, the count would have stopped dead in its track long ago, they'd all be in court now, and the issues would be ALL OVER Fox "News" in extraordinary detail.

Your observation work and explanations here have been *terrific*. However, I don't know this for a fact, but it *may* be the first time you've participated in such a post-election count as an observer. If so, you may not be aware of what a lot of what you're seeing may mean and what needs to be done about it to assure action is taken. If I'm wrong and your an Election Integrity veteran, then accept my apologies.

Also, I assure you that my report is based on both the reports of A LOT of folks on the ground and afar, and I have watched HOURS of the streaming video from the Waukesha County counting room. All long BEFORE I filed my report (that was just one of the reasons it took me nearly a full week before being able to report on the "recount" at all.) I wish there was streaming video from all 72 counting rooms! And that citizens were allowed to video tape as well! No clue why the campaigns agreed to NOT allow video taping!

Nonetheless, as noted, I hope you'll feel free to let me know where I've gotten anything factual wrong, as I'm always happy to correct as appropriate. As well, you are welcome to post your own observations -- as different than my own, obviously -- in comments at The BRAD BLOG, so others can see an alternative view of the count than the one I presented based on my reporting.

So, thanks again for all. PARTICULARLY for observing and sharing your observations, AS WELL AS holding my feet to the fire as you feel appropriate!

Best,
Brad

[lumberjack_jeff]

42. +1

Not that I know anything about your recount, but I have more trust in you.

[BlueIris]

26. Thanks for keeping things focused. Osama who? nt

[sybylla]

37. RE: hand counting

From your article: "Unfortunately, in this contest, just 31 of the 72 counties will actually see some or all of their ballots counted by hand."

The fact is that Kloppenburg representatives were instructed to observe the ballots being counted by the machine and keep their own tally. The actual number of hand counted ballots is, therefore, unofficially quite higher. It's true, you've pointed out that in some counties observers are prevented from seeing each individual ballot as it is fed into the machine. But that still leaves many more than 31 counties where Kloppenburg observers viewed and counted each ballot, plus, where problems cropped up, individual polling districts are hand counted by the canvass board.

As an observer, I can personally vouch that in the precincts I observed where the machine counts were on. Where the count didn't match perfectly with the election night count, all ballots were hand counted and election night problems sorted out.

I've been following the problems with electronic voting machines and tabulators from the beginning. Having been involved in several recounts over the past four years, I have become relatively confident of the process in Wisconsin - overseen by elected Dem and Rep County Clerks depending on the county and their multi-party board of canvass.

I understand your frustration with the spineless and incompetent GAB and largely share that opinion. But I don't know if I can agree that the "recount mess" is as dire as it appears on its face.

[midnight]

39. The whole thing should of been video taped.

[rasputinkhlyst]

40. Where's Palast?

He is the one I would trust to provide the real story!

[Ellipsis]

44. You do know there could STILL be a full hand recount after this count don't you?