Kathy’s special software

[deminks]

http://www.milwaukeenewsbuzz.com/?p=581616

Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus was using a software program created especially for her by the state Government Accountability Board when she made the huge error in compiling results for the State Supreme Court race between incumbent David Prosser and challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg. The special program was revealed in an email sent to other county clerks and released by the Kloppenburg campaign to buttress her claim that an independent investigation of Nickolaus’ office is needed.

Nickolaus was at the center of the huge vote-reporting error that omitted the entire City of Brookfield from county totals reported to the media. Made public two days after the April 5 election, the revelation altered the results of the State Supreme Court race in Justice David’s Prosser’s favor. The GAB, which oversees elections in the state, is currently investigating the mix-up and announced last week it would issue a final report within 60 days. Kloppenburg’s campaign asked for a special investigator, arguing the GAB works too closely with county clerks to be impartial. The GAB denied the request.

(snip)

The email, by Rusk County Clerk Denise Wetzel and addressed to other county clerks in Wisconsin, including Nickolaus, was sent on April 8, the day after Nickolaus revealed the vote-reporting error in a press conference.

It reads, “Please note that the program Kathy uses IS NOT the new canvass reporting program that is in the (Statewide Voter Registration System) that we all have been using as of late. It is a completely different program that was created by GAB for Kathy to accumulate her votes prior to uploading them into the program that the rest of us use.”

The Wetzel email, filed with the campaign’s request for an outside investigator, was “meant to indicate the GAB appropriately works closely with county clerks on a number of projects, and that close relationship makes it harder for the GAB to do a full and independent investigation,” says Kloppenburg campaign manager Melissa Mulliken.

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