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For Immediate Release—Thursday, April 7, 2011, 7:52 PM
Contact: Robert Kraig (414) 671-9760
Call for Federal Investigation into Vote Count Irregularities in Waukesha County
Milwaukee: In a stunning and likely unprecedented development late this afternoon, 14,315 votes in Tuesday’s election for Wisconsin Supreme Court purportedly not included in state-wide totals were added to the vote tally for the largest Republican-dominated county in the state, netting 7,582 additional votes for incumbent Justice David Prosser. In the aftermath of this shocking development, which if validated would reverse the election result, Citizen Action of Wisconsin called for an immediate federal investigation and immediate impoundment of all computer equipment, ballots, and other relevant evidence needed to verify a fair vote count in Waukesha County. This investigation should include an accounting of all communications by Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus and anyone in the Waukesha clerk’s office with all outside actors, and all interested parties to the election dispute
“Given the shocking character of this afternoon’s revelations, and its tremendous importance for the perceived integrity of Wisconsin’s governmental institutions, it is absolutely essential that there be a full investigation which is so beyond reproach that all Wisconsin citizens can have faith in the validity of the outcome,” said Robert Kraig, Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. “In the current political climate in Wisconsin, only an investigation by a U.S. Attorney can be seen by all citizens of the state as independent and above politics,” Kraig continued.
While it is far too early to judge all the facts of the situation, there are so many apparent discrepancies and contradictions in the currently available fact-base that a full, impartial, and independent investigation is clearly warranted. These warning signs that should trigger a full and independent investigation include:
· During her press conference Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus claimed this was an open and transparent process. Yet According to Nickolaus she found out about this at noon yesterday. She then sat on this information for 29 hours before disclosing it.
· According to 3 observers who attended the county vote canvass, the issue of 14,315 additional votes from Brookfield never came up in the room.
While it was hidden from the people in the room, others involved in the process, Charlie Sykes, a representative of the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, National Review, and conservative bloggers had the story hours before it was announced.
· Kathy Nickolaus has a long history of questionable practices in vote counting. The issue of Nicklaus keeping records on her personal computer was central to the audit conducted on her last fall. Was the “human error” she is apologizing for her own personal error made on her personal computer? She has been repeatedly warned about the danger of that process and criticized for keeping information “secret” from even others with in her own office in the past.
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