Wisconsin Union Law’s Future May Hinge on High Court Election

[JohnBrowdie]

As long as the imposed "ID" is free to the citizens I have no issue with it.  Otherwise it's just a poll tax.   And none of this jumping through ****ing hoops to get a free ID, the state should provide a FREE ID to all if it wants the citizens to show ID when they vote. 

 . . . and opposing obamacare is the same as opposing civil rights in the 60's.  that's according to no less an authority than the senate majority leader.   I so enjoy it when common sense precautions are lumped into the same heap as racists . . . and on the basis of nothing whatsoever.

anyway, to answer your reply directly, "horsesh*t".  I'm not even going to get into poll taxes, other than to say that they preceded america, much less slavery in america, and is separated by galaxies from the segregation era laws that you are attempting to connect me to. 

I just want to be sure that one person -- living, mind you -- gets one vote.  where's the harm in that?

[Miss Mia]

. . . and opposing obamacare is the same as opposing civil rights in the 60's.  that's according to no less an authority than the senate majority leader.   I so enjoy it when common sense precautions are lumped into the same heap as racists . . . and on the basis of nothing whatsoever.

anyway, to answer your reply directly, "horsesh*t".  I'm not even going to get into poll taxes, other than to say that they preceded america, much less slavery in america, and is separated by galaxies from the segregation era laws that you are attempting to connect me to. 

I just want to be sure that one person -- living, mind you -- gets one vote.  where's the harm in that?

You're reading more into what I'm saying than what I'm actually saying.  Just because I used the phrase "poll tax" doesn't mean I'm calling you a racist.  I disagree with any interference between a voter and actually voting.  So yes, I think if the state wants to require an ID, then the ID should be free.  *shrug*

[JohnBrowdie]

go figure.  all of the last minute results are going the way of the leftist.  what a surprise.

Update at 11:10 a.m. ET: With five precincts remaining, Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg has taken a 447-vote lead over incumbent Justice David Prosser in the Wisconsin state Supreme Court race out of 1.5 million votes cast, the AP reports.

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[JohnBrowdie]

where does "interference" begin and end?  why is ensuring the integrity of a vote "interference"? 

there is a degree to which eliminating "interference" between a potential voter and the voting process creates interference between the election and a valid result, which is the point of having an election in the first place.

I disagree with any interference between a voter and actually voting.  So yes, I think if the state wants to require an ID, then the ID should be free.  *shrug*

[Miss Mia]

go figure.  all of the last minute results are going the way of the leftist.  what a surprise.

Yeah, it's truly a conspiracy that Milwaukee was late to report and happened to lean democratic.  Let me know when it's a solid red district that suddenly turns left in the "last minute" results. 

[JohnBrowdie]

and, as long as I am at it*, if the liberals can make the purchase of health insurance a fundamental requirement of american citizenship, upon pain of punishment by the central government, then I don't want to hear any whining from said liberals about requiring a some reasonable form of identification, free or otherwise, to ensure the integrity of the election process.

*_{and yes, I am massively caffeinated today.}  

[JohnBrowdie]

don't blame me.  it was the left that turned this into a joke.  we have history in milwaukee that we can point to.  criminal convictions.  a track record for this sort of thing going back to 2004, that I can recall.  then there is this odd fact that these urban counties unfailingly wait late to come in and then spin wildly left by precisely the required number of votes that would tend to defy the dictates of probability. 

whatever it is, we will never know.  because for all we can actually verify, dead people and pets can vote in wisconsin.  and that's the point.

Yeah, it's truly a conspiracy that Milwaukee was late to report and happened to lean democratic.  Let me know when it's a solid red district that suddenly turns left in the "last minute" results. 

[natstew]

Yeah, it's truly a conspiracy that Milwaukee was late to report and happened to lean democratic.  Let me know when it's a solid red district that suddenly turns left in the "last minute" results. 

What was that border district in Texas that used to hold back on reporting vote counts until last? You know, the one the Democrats would call and tell how many votes they needed to carry the State? This was back in the forties, fifties, sixties and seventies. LBJ used it more than once. It took Jimmy Carter for the Republicans to take over the State Government and jerrymander, (along with an investigation) it out of existance.

 As for voter ID, I have to show State issued picture ID before I can vote in Tallahassee Florida, but I have to have the same ID to function here, so what's the problem? Here's the problem, voter ID is just one more small measure to prevent voter fraud, and the Democrats, being a criminal organization doesn't want any  restrictions that would prevent criminal voting.

[Miss Mia]

Wis. corrects vote count, gives incumbent big lead
AP

WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — A conservative-leaning Wisconsin county on Thursday corrected its count and gave an unofficial 7,500-vote lead to the incumbent in the hotly contested state Supreme Court race seen as a referendum on Republican Gov. Scott Walker's divisive union rights law.

Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus said the votes weren't reported to The Associated Press on Tuesday due to "human error."

"This is not a case of extra votes or extra ballots being found," she said. "This is human error, which I apologize for."

Before the announcement, it was assumed 68-year-old conservative Justice David Prosser's race against liberal assistant state attorney general JoAnne Kloppenburg was headed for a recount. But Prosser's lead is likely to stand if the new numbers hold up through canvassing in all of Wisconsin's 72 counties.
-snip-

Waukesha County to audit election equipment
Clerk criticized for not sharing data with other departments
JSOnline

The County Board's Executive Committee has ordered an audit of the county clerk's election equipment and system beginning with the September primary despite several memos she sent to the committee over the weekend defending her practices and resisting the move.

County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus has maintained that as the one in charge of elections, she is responsible for the security and operation of the system. However, other county officials say they worry about the integrity of the old equipment and the system she's using and whether she has adequate backup.

County Corporation Counsel Thomas Farley told the committee Monday that as an elected official with responsibility for elections, "If she wants to keep everything secret, she probably can.

"I don't know if that's wise or what she should do, but if she wants to and the public is satisfied that that's what they want - someone who keeps everything secret - that's up to them."

The issue came to a head when Nickolaus removed the election results collection and tallying system from the county computer network this spring and installed it on standalone personal computers in her office. She has said they are backed up with redundant systems.

Director of Administration Norman A. Cummings said Nickolaus has been uncooperative with attempts to have information technologists review the system and confirm the backups.
-snip-

[JohnBrowdie]

yikes.  bombshell.  there doesn't seem to be much dispute over whether or not these are votes or not. 

I read someplace last night that there were thousands of ballots in milwaukee that ONLY had votes for supreme court.  no vote for mayor, which is governor walker's former job.  that seems, um, odd.

At the news conference with Nickolaus, Ramona Kitzinger, the Democrat on the Waukesha County Board of Canvassers, said: "We went over everything and made sure all the numbers jibed up and they did. Those numbers jibed up and we're satisfied they're correct."

As a Democrat, she said, "I'm not going to stand here and tell you something that's not true."

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[Miss Mia]

yikes.  bombshell.  there doesn't seem to be much dispute over whether or not these are votes or not. 

I read someplace last night that there were thousands of ballots in milwaukee that ONLY had votes for supreme court.  no vote for mayor, which is governor walker's former job.  that seems, um, odd.

Regardless of who the votes were for, this is all kinds of ****ed up.  1. the tally is only on a personal computer located in her office?? 2. WTF?  Seriously?  You didn't input a whole ****ing city?  Apparently the votes came into her office via an Access template that was "tampered" with.  I thought the whole point of templates is that it's set? 

Her head should roll, this is a major **** up.  How could anyone trust any future election results coming out of her office? 

[JohnBrowdie]

I think we need a definition of "tampered with".   

she left out a city.  the dem votes and the republican votes.  incompetence is, in this case, bipartisan. but I'm not going to defend an apparatchik.  not her first screw up.  sounds like she needs to go.

[Miss Mia]

I think we need a definition of "tampered with".   

she left out a city.  the dem votes and the republican votes.  incompetence is, in this case, bipartisan. but I'm not going to defend an apparatchik.  not her first screw up.  sounds like she needs to go.

I didn't say it was tampered with.  It's just a massive **** up.  And honestly from previous news articles about her going back to last August, she doesn't sound that trustworthy (in general).  I just think people need to seriously look into this.  I mean she said it's because she didn't "save" the file.  Well 1. Access auto saves and 2. Excel would say "do you want to save your changes" before she closed the file.  That excuse just doesn't make sense to me at all, and I say this as someone that uses Access regularly and Excel daily.

[JohnBrowdie]

we just need to be careful.  tampering is criminal, and means prison.  incompetent is par for the course in government, and at most, means fired.

there must be different versions of the story buzzing around.  I read something about her insisting on using her office computers, not the statewide system, and then just forgetting to upload the entire thing to the election system.  distributed data is always a bad thing.

but I don't want to get into the mechanics and mouse clicks of how it happened.  it's boring.

my whole point all along was that organized labor had whipped itself into such a frenzy that I was anticipating shenanigans.  and, since walker had just won an election a few months before by over 120,000 votes, and ran hard on this issue, I didn't see any way that this heretofore unknown "environmental lawyer" (lovely phrase, that) was going to unseat the incumbent without something unnatural occurring.  even with the "enthusiasm gap" (as though unions weren't' enthused for the gubernatorial election, and would have elected the other guy if they had the votes), and the mid-cycle nature of the election itself.  and then we can talk about the fact that milwaukee is one of several true sleaze pits for election oddities.

I think the 7,500 figure is suspicious, by the way.  but I'll take it.

[Miss Mia]

there must be different versions of the story buzzing around.  I read something about her insisting on using her office computers, not the statewide system, and then just forgetting to upload the entire thing to the election system.  distributed data is always a bad thing.

Yes, it's one of the stories I linked to.  That was back in August, people were questioning WTF she was doing, she moved it to a personal computer IN HER OFFICE and three people shared the same password.  And she was refusing to allow IT to go in an audit and make sure the system was secure and had a good backup in place.  And she was refusing to institute basic recommendations (like not sharing passwords), oh no, she said she would "take it into consideration." 

I'm not saying she tampered with votes, but there needs to be a full investigation.  A screw up of this magnitude is unacceptable.