Democratic party official calls on Nickolaus to resign

[L. Coyote]

Source: By Laurel Walker of the Milkaukee Journal Sentinel - April 12, 2011 9:42 a.m.

Waukesha - A Waukesha County Democratic Party leader has called on Republican Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus to resign immediately in light of her performance in reporting results from last week's election and the fallout since.

Party Chairman Victor Weers said in a news release Tuesday that not only has the clerk's vote-counting and reporting process produced problems, but "Ms. Nicholaus (sic) has willfully ignored pleas to repair her broken reporting process in an open and technologically reliable way."

He said, "We must have a county clerk that we can trust to do this important work of the people with competence, security and openness. Waukesha must have a new county clerk now."

Nickolaus was not available for comment Tuesday morning, a clerk in her office said. .....

Read more: http://www.jsonline.com/news/waukesha/119691584.html

---

Wisconsin Election Results and Subsequent News = compilation thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x821883

========= LATEST NEWS =========
Statement & Account of Ramona Kitzinger,
Waukesha Board of Canvassers
Monday, April 11, 2011
http://www.orchidforchange.com/parties/waukeshadems.com/ht/display/ArticleDetails/i/1343504

(Waukesha County Democratic Party)
On Tuesday night, I received a voice message from someone in the office of Clerk Kathy Nickolaus informing me of a Wednesday canvass meeting, which I returned the next morning and said I would be able to report into the canvass by noon - which I did. Normally the canvass would begin at 9am on Thursday, as has been the general practice for many years. No one explained why they were beginning the canvass on Wednesday, just to please report immediately.

Before this telephone call, I had not been contacted as the designated Democratic observer, and I saw no public notice of the abnormal canvass time. The phone call simply instructed me to report by noon to begin the canvass, which I did. The canvass then proceeded as normal, with no glaring irregularities or mention of a possible 15,000 vote error in Brookfield City.

On Thursday, I then showed up as per normal procedure at 9am and the canvass again went normally and concluded sometime between 4pm and 5pm. During the course of the day, the issue of minor vote corrections in New Berlin and Lisbon came up, but again nothing of a historic nature or reflecting glaring irregularities. In fact, the matter of vote totals in Brookfield City came up specifically during the course of Thursday's canvass. In retrospect, it seems both shocking and somewhat appalling there was no mention of discovery of this 15,000 vote 'human error' that ultimately had the potential to tip the balance of an entire statewide election. How is this possible?

Once the canvass had been completed and the results were finalized, I was called into Kathy's office along with Pat (the Republican observer) and told of an impending 5:30pm press conference. It was at that point that I was first made aware of an error Kathy had made in Brookfield City. Kathy told us she thought she had saved the Brookfield voter information Tuesday night, but then on Wednesday she said she noticed she had not hit save. Kathy didn't offer an explanation about why she didn't mention anything prior to Thursday afternoon's canvass completion, but showed us different tapes where numbers seemed to add up, though I have no idea where the numbers were coming from. I was not told of the magnitude of this error, just that she had made one. I was then instructed that I would not say anything at the press conference, and was actually surprised when I was asked questions by reporters.

The reason I offer this explanation is that, with the enormous amount of attention this has received over the weekend, many people are offering my statements at the press conference that the 'numbers jibed' as validation they are correct and I can vouch for their accuracy. As I told Kathy when I was called into the room - I am 80 years old and I don't understand anything about computers. I don't know where the numbers Kathy was showing me ultimately came from, but they seemed to add up. I am still very, very confused about why the canvass was finalized before I was informed of the Brookfield error and it wasn't even until the press conference was happening that I learned it was this enormous mistake that could swing the whole election. I was never shown anything that would verify Kathy's statement about the missing vote, and with how events unfolded and people citing me as an authority on this now, I feel like I must speak up.

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Blue Owl]

2. Let's see one other district sporting the "confusion" Ms. Nickolaus experienced

If other districts were able to tabulate their vote totals without using their personal computer, why can't Ms. Nickolaus? Is she some kind of latte-sipping elite?

[L. Coyote]

3. Her computer is the only one in the Universe that does not save Access entries

and this unique quality alone makes her too special to resign :sarcasm:

Wow, how easily lies go unnoticed in today's M$M Universe.

[byronius]

4. Oh you liberals with your SQL and your VBA and your CSV.

Conservative Access requires faith, unlike your version.

[L. Coyote]

7. Miracles happen in dark, smoke-filled, back rooms,

:rofl: but only if you have Access to Miracles, :rofl: the new vote counting software from MS-GOP! :rofl:

[NBachers]

11. OK, that gets the laugh of the day

[L. Coyote]

17. Voting Farce Shows Value of Hitting `Save' By Margaret Carlson

Perhaps this author needs to be informed that you do not need to hit SAVE in MS Access for records to be entered!!
Write: [e-mail] = As soon as you move to the next cell, Access automatically updates the database.
To contact the editor responsible for this column: James Greiff at [e-mail]

==================
Voting Farce Shows Value of Hitting `Save'
By Margaret Carlson - Apr 11, 2011 4:00 PM PT
Bloomberg Opinion

..... Kathy Nickolaus, a Republican Party loyalist with a checkered electoral past .... put Prosser’s victory ever so helpfully just outside the bounds of a state-financed recount. ....

....... Nickolaus, a co-owner of Musky Mike’s Bait & Tackle shop in Okauchee, worked for the state Assembly’s Republican caucus when Prosser, as Assembly speaker, oversaw the caucus.

When all four of the Wisconsin legislature’s Democratic and Republican caucus groups were accused of doing campaign work on government time, Nickolaus was given immunity from prosecution. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, a 2002 criminal complaint against the Assembly speaker at that time, Scott Jensen, said Nickolaus developed a computer software program that was used by state officials to track donations. Jensen ultimately pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor ethics charge.

Elected Waukesha County clerk in 2002, Nickolaus put in place her own counting system. As long as elections were won by wide margins, her methods didn’t attract attention. In 2006, however, Nickolaus posted returns that temporarily skewed result .........

[L. Coyote]

5. Prosser camp's 'validator' validates skepticism about 'found' ballots

Cap Times editorial Posted: Tuesday, April 12, 2011 8:00 am
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/editorial/article_1d6a7906-64a8-11e0-8b44-001cc4c002e0.html


....

The Democratic observer of the nonpartisan election is speaking up. And what she is saying most certainly does not back up the clerk's claims.

The 80-year-old Ramona Kitzinger, the Democratic observer who is supposedly a "validator" for the integrity of the process, is not validating it at all. In fact, she is saying the canvass she observed "proceeded as normal, with no glaring irregularities or mention of a possible 15,000 vote error ....

....... Prosser backers were hailing Kitzinger as the validator.

In fact, Kitzinger is now validating the skepticism so many Wisconsinites have expressed with regard to Nickolaus' handling of the count and canvass in Waukesha County.

And in so doing she makes the strongest case for the federal investigation that is being sought by Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, public interest groups and citizens.

[mvd]

That does away with one reason for why there wasn't fraud

I'm sure she means well, but from the sounds of it, Ramona doesn't have the computer knowledge to "validate." Of course in normal business, the Repukes would make it SEEM like nothing was up.

[warrior1]

6. how about

just arresting her for election fraud.

[bluestateguy]

8. I'm sure she's just quaking in her boots from that statement

Once again, I congratulate Joanne Kloppenberg on her election to the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

[Steerpike]

9. Good for Big Vic!

He's showing some gumption! And even in a small time situation like this...it's a good thing!

[onehandle]

10. The Computer Wizard of Wisconsin is either crooked to her soul.

Or totally inept, since she's had a long history of these episodes.

Either way, she must go.

[movonne]

12. This has nothing to do with being inept she is just plain crooked..it

may never be proved... I'm sure she covered her tracks well...with the help of the kochroaches...

[L. Coyote]

13. Meanwhile, in Milwaukee County, the anomalous vote shift goes unnoticed. Smokescreen?

The one standout statistic in all the returns was neighboring Milwaukee County,
where voters swung to the right unlike anywhere else in Wisconsin, by a whooping 5.03%.
Menominee County swung more, but the size of the sample, one precinct only with very few votes,
not a statistically significant outlier by comparison in my view.

[LiberalFighter]

14. There needs to be a lot of media blast on the twit for her to step down immediately.

They need to attack her on many different sides. Bombard the hell out of her.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[L. Coyote]

16. SALON: Wisconsin vote debacle gets messier

Tuesday, Apr 12, 2011 12:24 ET - http://www.salon.com/technology/how_the_world_works/2011/04/12/wisconsin_state_supreme_court_election_plot_thickens
Wisconsin vote debacle gets messier
By Andrew Leonard
Amid calls for a federal investigation, accusations of "negligence" fly. But still, no smoking gun


Is the plot thickening in Wisconsin? Over the weekend, Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder requesting a federal investigation into the voting irregularities in last week's state Supreme Court Election -- namely, the election-transforming "discovery" of 14000 missing votes by Waukesha county clerk Kathy Nickolaus ....

Nickolaus, a former aid to Prosser when he was the Speaker of the House Assembly in Wisconsin, has a checkered career in state election politics ....

.......... a close look at all these developments reveals more smoke than fire. There's still no evidence that the voters of Waukesha county did not overwhelmingly tilt towards Prosser. The country clerk for the city of Brookfield, where the 14,000 votes at issue came from, attests to the totals she sent to Nickolaus, a point backed up by Kennedy. Negligence isn't the same thing as fraud, not by a long shot, and we seem to be a long way from any proof that votes were fabricated out of thin air.

[L. Coyote]

18. Waukesha Co Clerk to respond to calls for her resignation today

Politics blog: Waukesha Co Clerk to respond to calls for her resignation today
By MARY SPICUZZA Tuesday, April 12, 2011 11:08 am - http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/blog/article_dcfb6712-6520-11e0-ba6b-001cc4c002e0.html


The Waukesha County Clerk will be responding to calls for her resignation on Tuesday afternoon, her office said.

...

Staff members in Nickolaus' office would not say when her announcement would be, or if she plans to resign.

[GKirk]

19. Her response is in...

[L. Coyote]

20. In Walker's bizarro world, it's all about union vote fraud and greed

In Walker's bizarro world, it's all about union vote fraud and greed
April 12, 2011 - 12:34pm - http://solidaritywisconsin.com/content/walkers-bizarro-world-its-all-about-union-vote-fraud-and-greed
Original Link: http://uppitywis.org/blogarticle/walkers-bizarro-world-its-all-about-union-vote-fraud-and-greed


Welcome to Scott Walker's World, a parallel universe brought to you by NewsMax, a website from another dimension. Some highlights:

... Under Wisconsin law organized labor can get a recount if they're willing to pay for it. Walker says unions hope to replicate in Wisconsin “what was pulled off with Senator Franken in Minnesota." He promises, though, that Republicans will be on guard against any post-election ballot shenanigans... ... The key, he said, is to ensure all valid ballots are counted and that no additional ballots are added in. “And as long as somebody’s not trying to bring in new ballots, (Except Kathy Nickolaus) I think we’re not going to have what we saw in Minnesota,” ...

[L. Coyote]

21. Wisconsin Democratic Canvasser Was Left in Dark About Missing Votes for 2 Days

Wisconsin Democratic Canvasser Was Left in Dark About Missing Votes for 2 Days
April 12, 2011 - By Sarah Jones - http://www.politicususa.com/en/wisconsin-missing-votes


When I first wrote about the “found” votes for Justice Prosser in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, the push back often included comments that Ramona Kitzinger, the Democrat on the canvassing board, had seemingly endorsed the process. Turns out, she was never told about the missing 14,000 votes from Brookfield until right before the Thursday press conference, at which point they had finished the canvassing. In fact, she was instructed to be silent at the press conference by Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus who “found” the votes that swung the state Supreme Court race ....

...

Kitzinger goes on to explain that she had not been notified of the missing votes as the designated Democratic observer and she saw no notice of the abnormal canvass time. 
”The phone call simply instructed me to report by noon to begin the canvass, which I did. The canvass then proceeded as normal, with no glaring irregularities or mention of a possible 15,000 vote error in Brookfield City.” ...

....

What is Nickolaus’ reason for not telling election canvassers and the Democratic observer about the missing votes? ............

[Doctor_J]

22. More Dem mush-mouthedness

He should be calling on her to be prosecuted and imprisoned.. A Dem who did what she did would have been tossed in jail the first time it happened, 7 years ago. There must be some deterrence to committing these crimes. Nickolaus resigning and taking a job at Fox News will not deter the next criminal.

[proud patriot]

23. That's what I was saying Friday

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x848369

[L. Coyote]

24. The 'I forgot to hit save in MS Access' excuse is particularly fishy!!

There is a foul odor about telling lies like that.
Not telling the truth is a dangerous enterprise,
because one tends to trip over the details.

[L. Coyote]

25. Nickolaus rejects calls for resignation

10 minutes ago:
Nickolaus rejects calls for resignation
April 12, 2011 3:50 p.m. - http://www.jsonline.com/news/waukesha/119691584.html


Waukesha - Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus issued a statement Tuesday afternoon rejecting calls that she resign. "I will serve the remainder of my term," Nickolaus said. "I understand why people are upset and I am taking this matter seriously. Again, I am sorry for my mistake."

"I have immediately begun the process of reviewing my procedures," with the Government Accountability Board and Waukesha County auditor, she said ...

... Both campaigns and state election officials from the Government Accountability Board have since pored over her canvass report and municipal vote records to verify the results. No recount can be requested until every county has certified its results to the state, expected later this week. .....

[proud patriot]

28. what an arrogant person

[L. Coyote]

26. Clerk behind disputed Wisconsin election results has similar discrepancies in her past

Clerk behind disputed Wisconsin election results has similar discrepancies in her past
By Kyle Daly | 04.12.11 | 12:02 pm - http://www.americanindependent.com/178591/clerk-behind-disputed-wisconsin-election-results-has-similar-discrepancies-in-her-past


A Daily Kos user diary posted late last night reveals that the current dust-up over misplaced votes in the recent Wisconsin State Supreme Court election isn’t the first time Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus — who worked for Republicans in the state legislature while the incumbent judge David Prosser was the leader of the House GOP — has been at the center of an election discrepancy. In at least two earlier elections, Waukesha County tallies for elections won by Republicans have had suspicious inconsistencies.

The blogger who looked at the data reports that according to Waukesha County election results, nearly 98 percent of registered voters participated in the 2004 election, out of a similarly large pool of voters — over 83 percent of those eligible to vote are registered in Waukesha, according to the same figures. Since people are able to register on the same day they vote, voter turnout is generally taken as the percentage of the voting-age population that actually votes in a given election. Using this standard metric, Waukesha County’s 81.4 percent voter turnout in 2004 was much higher than the national average of 55.3 percent that year. Still, a particularly vigorous voting population is circumstantial evidence at best for anyone looking to prove the allegations of fraud and conspiracy that have been hurled at Nickolaus since last week.

Another set of data, however, may be far more damaging to Nickolaus in the coming weeks. The Daily Kos poster found ...........

[L. Coyote]

27. Lessons to be learned from Wisconsin judicial race

http://www.startribune.com/opinion/119730264.html


St. Cloud Times Editorial

Although it wasn't as high-profile as the madness a few months ago in Madison, last week our neighbor to the east provided Minnesotans with another valuable example of special interests trumping what's best for governance.

What typically would have been a low-key race for a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat essentially became a referendum on Gov. Scott Walker.

Because Wisconsin allows judicial campaigns to be treated like campaigns for other elected office, special interests (and big money) on both sides went crazy.

There still is no declared winner .....

[L. Coyote]

29. Waukesha vote blunder illustrates need for changes

Waukesha vote blunder illustrates need for changes
Journal Times Editorial Board JournalTimes.com | Posted: Tuesday, April 12, 2011 7:19 pm
http://www.journaltimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/article_d34475e0-6563-11e0-adab-001cc4c03286.html


The day-after discovery of 14,315 missing state Supreme Court votes is certainly serious. It needs to be investigated, but we do not believe it to be fraud, malfeasance or even a sign of that vast right-wing conspiracy. ....

The Waukesha County mistake was egregious. Whether the clerk should be fired is up to the county's voters, unless an investigation reveals conduct that would justify her removal from office. In a news conference on Monday, Kevin Kennedy, executive director of the Government Accountability Board, which oversees Wisconsin elections, mentioned her "apparent negligence." The GAB will be sending investigators to the county this week. They will ensure that the paper ballots are secure, that the numbers add up, will review the clerk's practices and recommend changes if warranted.

We're content with that process. If the board sees fit to recommend a probe by the attorney general or the federal government, it will do so. But we doubt that will come to pass. .... Every problem reported so far has been procedural -- perhaps tinged with incompetence, but not acts with criminal intent. Still, these problems point out what we must do.

Transparency in the election process is lacking ....

[defendandprotect]

30. kick -- and how many Kathy Nicholaus's across the country?

[opihimoimoi]

31. KnR Big Time....:o)

[opihimoimoi]

32. KnR 47th :o)

I almost forgot about the gay vote ...they will be happy in their new digs

[sendero]

33. Forget resign.

.... go to jail.