So the news broke late yesterday that Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg wants a statewide recount of the race for state Supreme Court. You know, the race that had a 200-vote margin before Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus found 14,000 votes that hadn't been recorded, the majority of them favoring state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser.
The statewide recount was the headline.
But Kloppenburg wants more than a statewide recount.
According to documents released by the Kloppenburg campaign yesterday, the candidate wants Government Accountability Board Director Kevin Kennedy to appoint a special investigator to look into Nickolaus' actions on Election Day and thereafter.
The Kloppenburg folks say that the GAB was too quick to accept Nickolaus' "human error" excuse and that clerks around the stateand even Waukesha County DA Brad Schimelwrote sympathetic emails to Nickolaus after her "human error" admission. The Kloppenburg folks believe that this shows that the GAB cannot conduct an objective investigation into the matter.
But that's not all.
Kloppenburg's campaign is alleging that Nickolaus violated state election laws.
Today, Kennedy said that he won't appoint a special investigator.
But Kloppenburg is presenting a pretty strong case for why he should. You be the judge.
From Kloppenburg's letter to Kennedy asking for an independent investigator:
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"The GAB staff have a legitimate business need to maintain their close working relationship with all of the county clerks. This need conflicts directly with the need for a thorough, objective investigation into a county clerk's possible misconduct, abuse of discretion, and violations of state law that could result in civil or criminal sanctions.
"You [Kennedy] personally made public statements expressing your continuing confidence in Ms. Nickolaus, despite your disappointment that she had failed to promptly disclose the misreported results to you."
On Schimel's sympathetic email:
"The email discloses Mr. Schimel's existing relationship, bias, and conflict of interest with respect to Ms. Nickolaus, which precludes his office's involvement in an investigation."
The Kloppenburg campaign also included the emails from clerks around the state ("If there is anything I can do, say, write to support you in this, I would be happy to," wrote Wanda Hinrichs, Burnett County Clerk, a sentiment shared by a number of her peers).
Nathaniel Robinson, Elections Division Administrator, wrote at 5:44 p.m. on Thursday, April 7, at the same time Nickolaus was holding her press conference:
"Thank you for your effort to reach Kevin, and for sharing information with [Statewide Voter Registration System Specialist] Adam Harvell about changes in Waukesha County canvass numbers. Given this critical importance and impact of this information to plans that are being frantically pursued to administer a statewide recount, Kevin and I wish you had asked Adam or whomever else you may have spoken to in our office to, to [sic] find either of us so we could have personally conversed with you.
"The information you shared with Adam is likely to be a game-changer regarding the need to administer a statewide recount that we are focused on right now. When I learned about your conversation from Adam, at around 5:05 p.m. this evening, I tried to call you to get a heads-up about this situation, you would not take my call. Given the gravity of this situation, I am disappointed that you did not take a minute or two to share the gist of the situation. I am disappointed that we are relegated to having to wait until after your news conference to learn more about this matter."
From David Buerger, Elections Specialist at GAB, the following morning:
"Kathy,
I just wanted to personally express my support for you and your office. I know how busy and stressful elections can be and appreciate that mistakes are made at every election. You were absolutely right that this is why we have a robust canvass process to verify the totals reported on Election Night. I appreciate you coming forward and accepting responsibility for this mistake. While you may have been a critic of our agency at times, I have always appreciated your candor. If there is anything I can do to help you or your office in this time, please let me know."
FYIthe email was attached to an email from an angry Milwaukeean demanding that Nickolaus resign. ("You have compromised the integrity of the election process and have shown that you are not qualified to take my order at McDonald's after this debacle.")
And, lastly, here's the email from Waukesha County DA Brad Schimel, sent on the morning after the press conference:
"Kathy,
You handled everything as well as possible yesterday. I had several events last night, and everyone I spoke with was very understanding about how something like this could happen.
I think it will be ok. Hang in there and keep your chin up.
Brad"
So, yeah, I think Kloppenburg has a point when she claims that the GABand the Waukesha County DAcan't investigate Nickolaus objectively.
On to Nickolaus' alleged lawbreaking...
The complaint argues that Nickolaus may have broken the law "if an investigation uncovers evidence that her action in misreporting the election results in Waukesha County on election night were intentional or knowing" or if she abused her power as an elected official.
Kloppenburg's campaign manager Melissa Mulliken stated in the complaint that "Nickolaus did not publicly release any evidence, such as a print-out from her data system, substantiating her explanation of the alleged 'human error' in reporting the election results."
The city of Brookfield clerk sent the election results to Nickolaus twice, at 9:56 p.m. and 10:05 p.m. Yet neither one of those results was included in the county's vote tally. As reported earlier, Nickolaus didn't mention the omission during the countywide canvass, to the GAB or to the city of Brookfield clerk.
The complaint further states that:
"On Wednesday, April 6, 2011, Justice Prosser was observed entering the Governor's office late in the evening and attending a private, one-on-one meeting with Governor Scott Walker.
"Governor Scott Walker made public statements on Wednesday, April 6, 2011, commenting that there might be 'ballots somewhere, somehow found out of the blue that weren't counted before.'
"Conservative media outlets, including the National Review online, reported the change in Waukesha County's election results before Nickolaus held the press conference on Thursday, April 7, 2011."
Note that both Prosser and a Walker aide deny that they met on April 6.
Mulliken also offered up Nickolaus' long history of questionable elections oversight, as well as her role in the caucus scandal.
As county clerk, Nickolaus has reported that 97.63% of registered voters cast ballots in the November 2004 electionhighly unlikely, obviously; she released sample ballots to the media that had already been marked; she doubled-counted all of the county's votes in a 2005 primary race; she mistakenly posted one candidate as the winner of a race; and she hasn't worked with the county to ensure that her computer system was functioning well and secure.
Note that the state Democrats have asked the GAB to look into Nickolaus' reporting for the 2006 election for state attorney general, when votes for that race outnumbered the total ballots cast in the race. The number of votes in question? 17,243. Note, too, that Republican JB Van Hollen beat Democrat Kathleen Falk by 9,071 votes.
So I'm not surprised that Kloppenburg wants an independent investigation in addition to the statewide recount. What does surprise me is that Nickolaus still has her job and that Waukesha residents don't seem to be too bothered by their elected official's long, curious history of "human error."
