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Gov. Chris Gregoire has called a 10 a.m. Monday news conference in Olympia to announce her future plans. The Democrat is expected to say whether she'll seek a third term. Congressman Jay Inslee says he'll run for governor if Gregoire does not.

As I type, Waukesha County is working on the process of certifying its results after finishing the physical recount about 2 pm yesterday. With unofficial numbers from all of Waukesha County except the city of Muskego, most of the city of Waukesha, and most of the village of Summit (the last was reported to the Government Accountability Board but was still under review as of this morning) available from the GAB as of this morning, and certified numbers from the other 71 counties, 3,545 of Wisconsin’s 3,602 reporting units have been reported and at minimum reviewed by the Government Accountability...

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...

<p>Supreme Court election drags on the Democrat/union coalition representing loser JoAnne Kloppenburg has sunk to a new low even for them.</p> <p>The wild eyed socialists engineered the disenfranchisement of 18 Roman Catholic nuns by seeing to the rejection of their absentee ballots.</p>

Bench Memos NROÂ’s home for judicial news and analysis. Give up and Go Away . . . Even MilwaukeeÂ’s Paper Agrees By Gary Marx May 12, 2011 The Wisconsin Supreme Court recount is about to wrap up, and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board has a special message for Kloppenburg: Give up and go away. So was it worth it? Probably not. As it appeared from the beginning, it appears even more so now that nothing will change in the election for state Supreme Court. . . . Kloppenburg had every right to request the recount, but given the cost...

Curious if they are going to continue, with the entire state minus Waukesha now recounted? Wonder what the reason for continuing is? The answers are "yes" they'll continue and an "unnamed Prosser volunteer" as the cause for continuing. Please read on: ----- Dear Friends, As of the end of the day tomorrow, Waukesha County is expected to be the only County that has not completed the recount. The recount has uncovered significant issues in ballot security, especially in Waukesha but elsewhere as well: bags of ballots unsealed, a pile of ballots in a clerk's office, ballot bag seal numbers that...

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- State law requires the recount in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race to be completed by May 9. The recount will begin on Wednesday. County election clerks asked questions to members of the Government Accountability Board during a conference call meeting Monday to outline details of the recount

Recount unnecessary EditorialApril 20, 2011JoAnne Kloppenburg certainly had the right to ask for a statewide recount on Wednesday. But we had hoped that she wouldn't - and the state would be better off if she hadn't. We understand the motivation. The final county-by-county canvassing of the state Supreme Court election revealed that Justice David Prosser won a narrow victory, a reflection of how polarizing the new governor and his policies have become. The heat generated by the controversy over those policies most likely spurred the significant turnout for a spring nonpartisan election and a 7,316-vote win for Prosser - less...

<p>The state's top election watchdog agency has satisfied itself that results certified by Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus for the April 5 election are consistent with totals reported by municipalities, though "a few anomalies" were found in a four-day investigation.</p>

MADISON — As election canvassers in Milwaukee County continue to tabulate the results from the April 5 state Supreme Court race, the question still looms — will there be a recount? Milwaukee County is the last of the state’s 72 counties to submit its vote totals to the state government. Once Milwaukee County submits its canvassed results to the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, the candidates — incumbent Justice David Prosser and assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg — will have three days to decide whether to petition for a recount. Submitted results from 71 counties show Prosser leading Kloppenburg by a...

Wisconsin Democratic Party Chairman Mike Tate has asked the Government Accountability Board to investigate the vote totals in Waukesha County that showed an apparent discrepancy in the 2006 statewide election. Republican Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen won that election by 9,000 votes. The apparent discrepancy involves 17,000 votes. Tate said that the situation is similar to the current issue in Waukesha County concerning the current Supreme Court race. 14,000 votes from Brookfield were not saved in the final total on election night earlier this month. After it was discovered, the unofficial lead in the State Supreme Court race shifted from...

Isn't it interesting that, from April 5 to April 6, Democrats and liberals were screaming that there was no fraud in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race? This despite evidence of vote shredding and Democrats getting high school kids to counts votes. Disgraced "film" maker Michael Moore even declared: But then, that wasn't true. In fact, because of a clerical error committed in Waukesha, Prosser had lost thousands of votes. When it was found and rightfully corrected, that's when the Left started to scream. Did they scream when Prosser was under-counted? No. Did they stop screaming when a Waukesha Democrat confirmed...

The Wisconsin Supreme Court election which pitted conservative incumbent David Prosser against Joanne Kloppenburg is heading towards a recount, which is a nightmare scenario for the perception of the judicial branch as an impartial mediator. Courts are typically involved in overseeing election recounts as candidates file legal challenges to the execution of the recount, which can at times deviate from the stated recount procedures. These lawsuits are an integral part of close elections, no less important or legitimate as campaigning. With nearly 1.5 million votes cast for either candidate, only 204 ballots currently separate Prosser and Kloppenburg, with the challenger...

One of the current hot button issues in Minnesota is Voter ID. There are bills in the state house and the state senate which would modernize registration and record keeping, and require photo identification at the polls. Critics of the plan speculate it may disenfranchise voters in peculiar situations, such as women living in domestic violence shelters. Such criticism only accounts for one kind of disenfranchisement, access to the polls in unusual circumstances. It ignores the extent to which voters are currently disenfranchised by the fraud enabled by the system. In Minnesota, we have an unholy trinity of provisions which...

Madison - With the largest number of local clerks of any state in the nation, Wisconsin's Balkanized system of running elections could make for an epic statewide recount, experts said Wednesday. And with a possible legal challenge lying beyond the likely recount, any irregularities with local ballots now could feed into potential courtroom debates later. With 1,850 elected or appointed municipal clerks who administer elections at the local level, Wisconsin has roughly one-fifth of all such clerks in the nation, said Doug Chapin, director of Election Initiatives at the Pew Center on the States in Washington. That will complicate any...

State Election News: All votes in: Kloppenburg leads unoffcially by 219 votes, recount is next Wisconsin News Votes from the final precinct to be counted in the Wisconsin State Supreme Court race are in and tallied and with all the votes and precincts counted across the state, JoAnne Kloppenburg finishes with an unofficial lead of 204 votes over incumbent justice David Prosser. The final precinct to be counted was the Town of Lake Mills in Jefferson County. Problems with the tally sheets delayed the vote count last evening until just before noon this morning. Prosser has said he will ask...

Madison — The state Supreme Court race for now has all the hallmarks of the first statewide recount in more than two decades. Kevin Kennedy, head of the Government Accountability Board, which administers state elections, said a candidate can request a recount at no cost to the candidate if the margins of a race are within one-half of 1%. With all but a handful of the precincts reporting Wednesday morning, challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg led incumbent Justice David Prosser by a little more than 300 votes. With a statewide vote total of nearly 1.5 million in that race, the margin separating...

The state's highest court ruled in the final disputed State Senate race in the seventh district on Long Island, and the decision means Republicans will once again control the Senate in January. The Court of Appeals agreed with two lower court decisions, and denied Democratic Senator Craig Johnson, a recount in his race against GOP challenger Jack Martins. Johnson had been trailing by 451 votes. The case is also important because it is the first time the State's high court has had to issue a ruling on the recounting of ballots under the new optical scan voting machines, used statewide...

Ten years ago, Al Gore tried to steal the presidency of George W. Bush. That is how the story should be written for all of history, but the left will try to spin it otherwise. Rehashing every single moment in the 36 day 2000 Election drama would be more boring than an Al Gore speech. A decade later, some things that were true in 2000 remain true in 2010. Richard Nixon could have sued to challenge the election of John Kennedy in 1960. There was real election fraud, with dead people in Chicago and other dirty tricks in LBJ’s home...

Absentee ballot counting ground to a halt at 11 a.m. Friday in the only still-undecided congressional race in the nation, as lawyers and strategists for both candidates continued preparation for a showdown in State Supreme Court next week. Republican challenger Randy Altschuler gained six votes on incumbent Democrat Tim Bishop in the count yesterday, narrowing the difference between the two candidates to 271 votes or 264 votes, depending on which side is doing the tally. (Bishop's camp has his lead at 271 but the difference is only 264 according to Altschuler's people.) But more than 1,400 paper ballots remain uncounted...

Rep. Solomon Ortiz conceded to his Republican challenger Monday night, according to a regional representative of the National Republican Congressional Committee who is in Texas’ 27th district. The Texas Democrat called challenger Blake Farenthold, a former radio talk-show host, as the last county in his district worked toward wrapping up its recount. The Farenthold victory brings the net Republican House pickups this cycle to 62 seats, with four House races still outstanding from the midterm elections. The Republican was on Capitol Hill last week for freshman orientation. Ortiz asked for the recount, which cost him $23,500, after the original unofficial...

Republican Renee Ellmers has unseated veteran Congressman Bob Etheridge, according to unofficial results of a recount in the tight race. Etheridge, a seven-term Democrat, picked up six votes on Ellmers after voting results from 10 counties were tabulated a second time, but it was nowhere near enough to overcome her 1,489-vote lead following the Nov. 2 election.

Discrepancy attributed to clerical error Although discrepancies remain in the manual recount of votes for Cameron County judge, authorities said an investigation into the matter does not suggest any criminal act. Cameron County District Attorney Armando Villalobos said his office was asked to look into the situation and after taking affidavits and questioning Election Administrator Roger Ortiz and other election staff it appears that no criminal wrongdoing occurred. “At this point there is no criminal investigation that would affect the voting or that would affect the Elections Department,” Villalobos said Wednesday. What it boils down to is a “clerical error”...

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Republican Party of Minnesota took the governor's race to the state Supreme Court on Wednesday, seeking to shrink the ballot pool in the undecided contest between Democrat Mark Dayton and RepublicanTom Emmer before a recount begins after Thanksgiving. A person with direct knowledge of the filing told The Associated Press that the GOP was asking the high court to force election officials to remove ballots in all precincts statewide where more votes were cast than the number of voters recorded.

Carlos Cascos stood his ground Sunday, disputing reports from Democratic Party officials that a review of the recount of Nov. 2 election returns showed him losing to John Wood by five votes for county judge instead of winning by 50 votes as the Cameron County Elections Department had reported Saturday night. “I look forward to continuing my work for the people of Cameron County as their county judge,” Cascos, the Republican incumbent, wrote in a press release issued at noon Sunday. Shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday, word began to spread that a review of tally sheets at the recount —...

There's a climate-controlled floor in the state archives building in Tallahassee where two distinct collections are kept for posterity: the case files of convicted murderers, and the ballots for the 2000 presidential election. "The punch cards are now so brittle that most of the holes have been punched out," said Jennifer Krell Davis of the Florida Department of State. "There's no useful application for them anymore." But letting go of the desiccated physical remains of the most contentious election in the state's history, an election that began 10 years ago today, stretched over a monthlong recount, and decided a presidency...

post more on this when I have it, but two sources who are familiar with the recanvassing of the voting machines in NY-1 tell me that GOPer Randy Altschuler, who'd been down several thousand votes to Democratic Rep. Tim Bishop is now up between 300 and 400 with the recanvass completed. There's over 9,000 absentee ballots to be counted starting next week, but the Republican had been down by 3,400.

An Education in Washington Politics Election night, after the ten counties in her district reported their votes, Renee Ellmers led incumbent Congressman Bob Etheridge by 2,100 votes. (That number is crucial because under North Carolina law Congressman Etheridge is not entitled to an ‘automatic recount’ if he trails by more than 1% – or 1,888 votes.) Then the afternoon after the election – out of a clear blue sky – the vote totals changed. The State Board of Elections reported Mrs. Ellmers’ lead had dropped to 1,600 votes. The explanation, when it came to light, was as old as time:...

A newly discovered group of ballots is giving a slight boost to Democrat Al Franken's chances in the disputed Minnesota Senate race, but it still isn't enough to undo the incumbent's persistent lead. Ramsey County officials found the 171 ballots yesterday, just as they were wrapping up their recount. After the votes were tallied, Franken gained 37 votes on incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman's lead. Through yesterday, Coleman's margin was 303 votes. However, the numbers can still shift as the last counties wrap up their work this week.

Be polite: Ask Senator Cornyn Why he has yet to contact Joe Miller and offer him resources and a legal team for the Alaskan recount to take place on November 10th? 202 224 2934

Alaska's Lt. Gov. Craig Campbell, who oversees elections, told the Associated Press that write-in ballots for Miller will be tossed out. http://nation.foxnews.com/joe-miller/2010/11/03/miller-getting-hosed-alaska THAT WOULD BE ILLEGAL! AS 15.15.360. Rules For Counting Ballots. (a) The election board shall count ballots according to the following rules: (9) Write-in votes are not invalidated by writing in the name of a candidate whose name is printed on the ballot unless the election board determines, on the basis of other evidence, that the ballot was so marked for the purpose of identifying the ballot. http://touchngo.com/lglcntr/akstats/Statutes/Title15/Chapter15/Section360.htm WE NEED EVERYONE TO CALL THE OMBUDSMAN OFFICE AND FILE...

I just received this e-mail: Dear Supporter, Election night, after the ten counties in my district had reported their votes, I led Bob Etheridge by 2,100 votes. (That number is crucial because under North Carolina law Congressman Etheridge is not entitled to an ‘automatic recount’ if he trails by more than 1% – or 1,888 votes.) Then, yesterday afternoon – unexpectedly – the vote totals changed. The State Board of Elections reported my lead had dropped to 1,600 votes. Two hours later Bob Etheridge announced he intended to call for a recount. As a result, last night my campaign began...

Raleigh, N.C. — Seven-term Democratic Congressman Bob Etheridge on Wednesday said he will call for a recount in his re-election bid, where he trails Republican challenger Renee Ellmers by about 1,600 votes. Ellmers claimed victory late Tuesday, and The Associated Press also declared her the winner in the tight Second District race.

You have to be kidding me. No matter how many times you shake your head or rub your eyes, Minnesota voters on Tuesday once again demonstrated their almost Shakespearean flair for the dramatic, delivering another dead-heat race just two years after a lengthy statewide U.S. Senate recount tested the nerves of local elections officials and the patience of the nation. With 100 percent of the precincts reporting, DFLer Mark Dayton unofficially led Republican Tom Emmer by 0.4 percent, close enough to trigger a statewide recount in the governor's race. Fresh from storming their way to control of the state Legislature...

In a grimly familiar scene for Minnesota politics, the governor’s race between apparent winner Mark Dayton and Republican challenger Tom Emmer is headed to a recount. With 100 percent of the state’s precincts reporting, Dayton leads Emmer by 8,854 votes. This number requires a mandatory recount under state law as it is within one-half of one percentage point.

With only a half of a percentage point separating DFL candidate Mark Dayton and Republican candidate Tom Emmer, Minnesota Republican leaders say they will pursue the recount until every single vote is counted. "We believe that we owe it not just to the Republican party and Tom Emmer, we owe it to the state to make sure this is done correctly," State Chair Tony Sutton told reporters Wednesday. "What I'd like to make sure is that the votes are counted and that everything is done correctly to make sure people aren't being disenfranchised." Sutton says the party wants assurances that...

Just two days before the statute of limitations ran out, on the very day that the nation was at the polls for midterm elections, the Nobles County attorney's office filed charges against two people for voting in the 2008 election while ineligible. Monica Duarte Duchene, 36, and Ryan Scott Marsh, 30, both of Worthington, were charged in Nobles County District Court of voting at a time when they were ineligible due to a prior felony conviction which had not been discharged. Duchene was convicted in December 2007 of third-degree arson and sentenced in February 2008 to five years of probation,...

The Minnesota governor's race is so close it has come to this: another recount appears almost certain. With 99 percent of precincts reporting, DFLer Mark Dayton leads Republican Tom Emmer by less than one half of 1 percent -- 43.67% to 43.24%. For any race where the margin is less than one half of 1 percent, there is an automatic recount, as happened two years ago in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race. "It looks like it's recount part II: And this time it's personal," said state Republican Party Chair Tony Sutton.

Football coaches want to win in the air or on the ground. Many have almost open disdain for the kicker. But when the game comes down to the wire, he often is the the difference between an amazing victory or an agonizing defeat. Political campaigns have their own air (TV and radio ads) and ground (get-out-the-vote and other efforts) strategies. The vast majority of races will have clear winners. But in those instances where a few dozen or few hundred votes separate the contenders, the fight will move to the courtroom.

Democratic and Republican officials in Washington say they have elaborate plans in place involving training sessions for recount volunteers, Washington lawyers who specialize in recount efforts and detailed plans about how to mobilize legal and public relations resources if a recount is necessary. Rob Jesmer, the executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, admitted, “there’s something else that keeps me up at night beyond tight poll numbers. Recounts.” In the e-mail, Mr. Jesmer urges supporters to donate money so the party can be ready to field lawyers on Nov. 3 in places where recounts might be necessary. “We cannot...

If history is any guide, there will be several House races and probably a couple of Senate races that end up so close after the votes are counted that a recount will be mandated. There will also be the usual charges of fraud and vote stealing by both sides, which will put pressure on state election officials to investigate these claims. Will it be worse this time around? With so much at stake this year, and with the lessons and emotions of Minnesota 2008 and Florida 2000 lingering, recounts will almost certainly trigger an all-out assault from Washington-based election stars...

08/25/2010 12:43 CHINA Chinese police "remove" ballots and block vote count In a village near Beijing the head of the Communist Party wins local elections by a few votes, but the police prevent the election commission from conducting a full count. Protests explode and there with several arrests. Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - At least 13 residents (including three members of the electoral college of control) have been arrested and several others sought in the wake of protests that erupted in late July over elections in the village of Raolefu, a rural area in the suburbs of Beijing. On July...

The canvassing process in Michigan’s 1st district, where there is a recount needed to sort out the winner of Tuesday’s Republican primary, may start moving faster. After the initial unofficial vote count, surgeon Dan Benishek was just one vote ahead of state Sen. Jason Allen in the northern Michigan district currently represented by retiring Rep. Bart Stupak (D). The count: 27,091 to 27,090. The winner will face state Rep. Gary McDowell (D) in what is expected to be a very competitive race in November. Here’s what happens next. Michigan law gives county election boards 14 days to certify results —...

Three days after the primary election in the 6th congressional district, Highlands Mayor Anna Little has held on to a razor thin lead over rival Diane Gooch and the race appears headed towards a recount. As of this evening, Gooch and Little were separated by 80 votes -- 6,794 for Little and 6,714 for Gooch. There are at most 25 Republican provisional ballots left in Monmouth County, where they are expected to be counted Monday, according to Little campaign manager Leigh-Ann Bellew. Provisional ballots in Middlesex County were counted today, giving four additional votes to Little and two to Gooch.

BAGHDAD - U.S. soldiers from the 571st Military Police Company and the Joint Area Support Group-Central security directorate have been working round the clock since May 2 on request from the Iraqi government to augment the security surrounding the partial recount of the Baghdad parliamentary election ballots. Several weeks ago, an Iraqi review panel decided to unseal the roughly 11,300 ballot boxes and recount more than two million ballots after a complaint from Maliki's bloc alleged fraud in the initial tally of ballots in Baghdad, which holds more than a fifth of the seats in parliament. Officials had expected the...

A recount of annulled votes in Romania's presidential election failed to overturn the incumbent Traian Basescu's victory, the country's central election bureau said on Sunday. Basescu won the December 6 runoff by around 70,000 votes against leftist challenger Mircea Goreana, who contested the result at the Constitutional Court saying the election was marred by fraud. The court asked for a recount of more than 138,000 annulled votes by Monday. The bureau has so far recounted over 137,000 votes. It found 2,137 of those were valid and 1,169 were in favour of Basescu, while 968 were cast for Goreana.

Dear Friends, Today, Tuesday, November 24, 2009, it is with a heavy heart that we declare this election over. We will formally end this election and not ask for a recount. This was a difficult choice to make because so many people have put their faith, hope and aspirations into our campaign. Yes, there seem to have been many vote counting problems, missed vote counts and, as was recently reported by the Gouvernour Times, software problems in the computerized voting machines. Despite these incidents, I do not believe the voters of NY-23, or New Yorkers in general, would be well-served...

EVEN the Democrats in Minnesota now realize their new US Sen. Al Franken was elected with the help of ACORN chicanery. The disgraced, pimp-friendly community organizing group claims it registered 43,000 new Minnesota voters. If just 1 percent were fraudulent but survived the recount process, that's 430 votes, almost all cast for Franken, who won by just 312 votes. Asks Katherine Kersten in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, "Did ACORN folks pull some fast ones to help get their favorite son Franken elected -- a win that handed Democrats the 60-vote, veto-proof majority that they needed to enact their liberal agenda?"

(Washington, D.C. - 10/2/09) In a very short statement, an un-named community organizing organization insists it has located ballot boxes in Copenhagen that held a large amount of votes for the City of Chicago and will formally protest the "flawed" voting that has taken place. "We detest the flawed voting that has taken place in Copenhagen and have proof not all votes were counted, and millions of people in Chicago have been disenfranshised by this obvious injustice. We plan on presenting this proof to the IOC, in conjuction with our SEIU brothers and sisters, and volunteer to personally oversee the...

After a banner bounce-back year for Democrats in 2006, many believed the 2008 Senate race was theirs to lose. In 2002, when Coleman was elected with Bush's blessing, 70 percent of Minnesotans approved of the president's performance. By 2008, 70 percent disapproved. A hurricane had flooded New Orleans in 2005, and two years later at the other end of the Mississippi River, an interstate bridge in Minneapolis had collapsed into those waters. Polls showed the state of Minnesota, like the rest of the country, wanted change. The campaign got personal early. Already being knocked around for his jokes and writings,...