Prosser: Computer Error, Brookfield Vote

This is big. Enormous!

From Christian Schneider:

BREAKING: Computer Error Could Give Prosser 7,381 More Votes, Victory

After Tuesday night’s Wisconsin Supreme Court election, a computer error in heavily Republican Waukesha County failed to send election results for the entire City of Brookfield to the Associated Press. The error, revealed today, would give incumbent Supreme Court Justice David Prosser a net 7,381 votes against his challenger, attorney Joanne Kloppenburg. On Wednesday, Kloppenburg declared victory after the AP reported she finished the election with a 204-vote lead, out of nearly 1.5 million votes cast.

On election night, AP results showed a turnout of 110,000 voters in Waukesha County — well short of the 180,000 voters that turned out last November, and 42 percent of the county’s total turnout. By comparison, nearly 90 percent of Dane County voters who cast a ballot in November turned out to vote for Kloppenburg.

Prior to the election, Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus was heavily criticized for her decision to keep the county results on an antiquated personal computer, rather than upgrade to a new data system being utilized statewide. Nickolaus cited security concerns for keeping the data herself — yet when she reported the data, it did not include the City of Brookfield, whose residents cast nearly 14,000 votes.

...“Waukesha County officials have announced a press conference for 5:30 CST.”

So when do we hear that a bag with 10,000+ ballots for Kloppenburg was found in a Dane County poll worker's garage?

Wisconsin state senator Chris Larson is already spinning:

Heard rumor the Waukesha County Clerk was also the tech point person for Republican caucus during the scandals 10 years ago. #wiunion

Naturally.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

In a political bombshell, the clerk in a Republican stronghold is set to release new vote totals giving 7,500 votes in the state Supreme Court race back toward Justice David Prosser, swinging the race significantly in his favor.

The Waukesha County clerk's office has told state elections officials that they will be adjusting the vote totals to give incumbent David Prosser more than 7,000 new votes, said Mike Haas, staff attorney for the state Government Accountability Board.

"Waukesha will be adjusting their vote totals by 14,000," Haas said the Accountability Board was told.

The numbers will add some 11,000 votes for Prosser and some 3,000 for Kloppenburg, he said.

The new numbers may provide some clarity to a race that had appeared to be headed toward the first statewide recount in two decades and provided a new surprise for a state that had already faced two months of chaotic politics.