Posted on 05/17/2011 12:19:57 PM PDT by Jean S
The Journal Sentinel Editorial Board is entitled to its own opinions but it is not entitled to its own facts. The board's speculation about my motives regarding the recount of the vote in the Supreme Court election is inaccurate. I appreciate this opportunity to set the record straight.
The recount process in Wisconsin is unfolding as prescribed by Wisconsin law. Votes are recounted in all 72 counties, and an official record is made of that process. When the Editorial Board says the recount is a "mere preamble to the court challenge," it is wrong on the facts and wrong to prejudge my intentions.
Wisconsin law specifically anticipates that there may be court challenges to the recount, but those challenges can only happen after the recount is done. The recount is not "merely" a preamble to anything: It is a process that proceeds in prescribed ways when an election is this close.
As I and my campaign have said repeatedly and consistently, I have not made the decision about whether to request judicial review. Once the recount is done and the record is complete, my attorneys and I will carefully review the evidence in that record and I will make a considered judgment based on the law and the facts. The Editorial Board has no evidence other than politically motivated claims by my opponent and his supporters on which to base its statement that "it appears" I will challenge the recount in court.
And, finally, it is the height of cynicism and the worst of politics as usual to undermine the rationale for, and benefits of, this recount in order to try to score political points as Justice David Prosser's campaign continues to do. When races are this close, there is a significant public interest established both by statute and by common sense in determining that votes were counted and counted accurately.
The recount has uncovered significant and widespread errors and anomalies in the securing of ballots and recording of votes on election day. There have been changes to vote totals in every county due to miscounted or missing votes.
Many bags of ballots have been found to be essentially unsealed or ripped to the extent that ballot security is compromised. A stack of ballots, unbagged, was found in a clerk's office. Ballots were found in voting machines where they had been left. Seal numbers on ballot bags and tags were not recorded in the inspector's reports, creating doubt that the bags were properly sealed on election night.
Touchscreen voting machine tapes were missing votes, or worse, were entirely blank and had to be reproduced from machine memory to allow a recount of the vote.
The most widespread and systemic errors and anomalies have been discovered in Waukesha County. That county was already under a cloud, and this recount has revealed more questions about elections practices there.
This election was close, and there were many who have expressed doubts about whether it was clean. The right to vote is fundamental. It is a right that courageous people fight and die for every day. In America, that right carries with it a promise: that elections are fair and open, that election results are untainted by deceit or fraud and that the electoral process provides every eligible voter with an equal opportunity to privately and independently cast a ballot.
In order to make that promise real, there are appropriate and established steps that help make sure the outcome of elections, when in doubt, can withstand scrutiny. That, no more and no less, is exactly why this recount is so important.
JoAnne Kloppenburg is an assistant attorney general who ran against Justice David Prosser in April.
Pffttt!
Ping!
I would agree they are vital especially after we were blessed by the recount god in 2000......could you imagine had there been no recount process. I think we might have had Al Gore which would have been horrifying. Must worse than Carter and even Obama (with the exception that Al Gore is American).....His Global Warming crap would have been horrible for the country.
“....And especially, since my cheating *still* couldn’t overcome a majority of the voters, a recount provides an excellent backup plan for stealing elections......”
Byebye
When she was 200+ votes ahead, she declared victory.
She asked Prosser’s camp to concede, to spare the state going through a recount, since it was clear that 200+ was enough of a margin not to be overturned in a recount.
But when she ended up 7,000+votes behind, that’s when we need recounts and investigations into how ballots are handled and all that. None of that was needed when one candidate has a 200+ vote margin, but all of that is needed when the spread is 7,000+ votes.
I don’t understand the liberal mind, and liberal lack of consistency in positions taken. I probably never will.
lol.
How many bags of ballots will Democrat operatives discover in their closets and car trunks??
Absolutely. 100% guaranteed.
This is, we should all remember, the ignantbiatch who claimed victory based upon an AP unofficial tally that put her a couple hundred votes in the lead - but will not concede the race after a seven thousand vote deficit.
Oh yeah, she is SO going to sue. Everyone can see it - and her “how dare you say it!” is going to ring rather hollow when she does in fact sue.
Why?
George Bush won the original count.
He also one every recount.
Nothing to understand, it’s called rank hypocrisy.
And, while the suit is pending, how many more boxes of ballots will the RATs “find” in closets, car trunks and back rooms?
KLOPPENDEMON IS A PRIME EXAMPLE WHY PURGING DEMONRATS FROM OUR NATION IS SO VITAL.
LLS
I appreciate this opportunity to set the record straight.
Hahahahaha...
Because the results of the election were overturned by the recount of uncounted ballots, I think she’s entitled to another recount, just to confirm the results. Caveat: BY MACHINE ONLY.
It might seem counterintuitive, but machine counts are statistically more reliable than hand counts.
What was insane about the Florida recount is that Gore kept recounting the same ballots by hand with different standards for discerning voter intent, until he massaged in the result he wanted. Remember hanging chads?
If the recount shows yet another result outside the small margin for error, they’ve got a real problem with fraud. Machines don’t come up with different results each time.
Recounts should be impossible. We have the technology that all counts should be instant and that’s that. Make the electronic systems open source and very simple and standardized.
Dealing with paper receipts on this scale days, weeks, or more after an election is retarded beyond belief.
They won’t find any ballots, it’s too late for that, the recount is basically comparing known ballots to votes reported on election night. And “finding” 7000 ballots would only get someone arrested.
Try this: For leftists, words are only tools and weapons; they have no intrinsic meaning. The ends justify the means.
Her handlers will insist that she files a lawsuit. This circus involves delaying implementation of the collective bargaining law. The left wants the seat vacant when the case comes before the court. An election lawsuit may leave the seat vacant when the case moves to the state supreme court.
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