Posted on 04/07/2011 2:43:06 AM PDT by Brown Deer
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 effort to run down exactly how many votes were cast in each village, city and town for each candidate, he said.
"It's just the sheer number of places that need to be recounted and recanvassed and finalized," Chapin said. "These are interesting times across the country but it doesn't get much more interesting than Wisconsin these days."
The race between the more conservative incumbent Justice David Prosser and his more liberal challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg - and ultimately the ideological bent of the Supreme Court - could hinge on factors both small and large, experts said. That could range from the votes cast in a rural town and handled by an overworked clerk up to a ruling from the Supreme Court itself.
(Excerpt) Read more at jsonline.com ...
Republicans had better mount an all out assault against the Rat Fraud.
I’m going to take a guess that absentee ballots have yet to be counted?
Although not from Wisconsin I followed this race into the night due to the implications of the controversy following Scott Walker’s attempts to strip the unions of the power to literally own the government. I was dismayed and disgusted with the results and felt he should have changed voter law in Wisconsin BEFORE he took this on since we all know RATS cheat.
Watching what is unfolding, I am starting to become optimistic that this fiasco could result in Wisconsin and other states with voter requirements that seem designed to let the unions rule the land, will be exposed. Perhaps by 2012 Wisconsin will have cleaned up the voter system and, hopefully, other states currently run by Pubs will follow suit. This is MANDATORY or you can rest assured that “The One” will have unions out in full force to guarantee his 2012 victory.
Prosser should contact Bush’s guy, James Baker, ASAP.
This Texan was the one who legally outmaneuvered the Gore people in the infamous Fla recount.
You notice the lib comments about “Rethuglicans stealing the elections?” Funny how, when the Dems are demanding recounts and stealing elections they refer to this as “democracy in action.” Other than George Bush, have recounts EVER occurred that might inconvenience the Dems. And, while we are at it, I don’t EVER recall an election that went for the Dem only to have a recount occur - it has always been the Pub who won. Dems don’t like it when the shoe is on the other foot and, I suspect and hope, a closer look will actually but Prosser back on the bench. Of course, we will be able to count on the MSM to do everything they can to rig the outcome.
How does the clerk get over-worked when the point of the story is that there are so many of them that they are inefficient? Or is it that they have collectively bargained to sit around on the job and if they actually have to count a few ballots it taxes their abilities?
Yeah, the ones that miraculously turn up in car trunks and turn out to be 99% Lib. Remember Minnesota.
Yet another example of a governmental C.F. Perhaps WTF. Sheesh!
However, perhaps this can be used in some legal manner to our benefit - who knows?
When the dem is slightly behind, the press does stories and man-in-the-street interviews with dem voters about how they want to only have their precious vote count against evil white male hegemony and establishment power ala Potter versus young Jimmy Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life.
When a Republican is slightly behind, it's all about the process and mechanics of voter counting and all very staid and matter-of-fact reporting with no dramatics. This is the slight-of-hand game the media always play to jerk the voters heartstrings over to the democrats.
I think Scott Walker has the guts it will take to see this thing out. Our problem will be the Dem Secretary of State, who will be the chosen one by the media since he will give them the opportunity to paint this as a “little man vs the corrupt government” issue instead of the Union Thuggery that it is.
Absentee ballots are counted the day of the election. They are delivered to the polling place by the town clerk, certified, opened, and fed into the machine along with all of the votes cast that day. The only outstanding ballots could be "provisional" ballots. Those would be ballots from voters who were challenged at the polls by not having complete ID. But provisional ballots should have been certified, or rejected, by 4 PM yesterday, as long as the voter appeared at City Hallll with their full ID. Provisional ballots will be added to the totals at the county-wide canvas in each county. A question remains about military ballots. They may get a little extra time to be received at City Hall. I don't know the answer to that.
1650 municipal clerks. This is a terribly written article I think this is about election clerks and boards of election but I’m not sure.
They (two writers on this) mention one county out of the 72 which does not elect (by party) their clerk. I wonder if its mine Adams . In fact I’d like to know if that is the case. I asked the judges of election this question. “What precinct am I in ?” and they didn’t know . One said ward 1, another said ward 2 . A precinct is the basic electorial unit.
Now in some cases in Wisconsin the term ward and precinct are used interchangeably but there is a difference in their electoral functions. A ward is usually composed of a number of precincts. One precinct may lie in one legislative district and another precinct may be in another legislative district but they’re in that ward.
This article demonstrated little understanding of what election boards do or how they’re suppose to function. Let alone explain it to their readers. Thank you for the post.
Better than a recount would be an order to redo the election, since there are so many fraud stories. A recount of a tainted pool (extras thrown in, uncounted ballots for Prosser thrown out) is useless. The election should be run under strict guidelines... including voter ID and security for ballots.
Doubt it will happen.
I’ve been an election clerk for over 10 years, and your remarks are unfair and ignorant. Election clerks are part time workers brought in only for elections. Each voting place is run by several clerks who work only once, or twice, a year. If you ever showed up to work at 6 in the morning and were not released until one or two the following morning, you might describe yourself as “overworked”. That’s without a break. We have not (your words) **collectively bargained to sit around on the job and if they actually have to count a few ballots it taxes their abilities?**.
One election I worked did not even allow me a potty break until 7 pm.
The clerks are under tremendous pressure from impatient people all day long. Most voters are nice, but there are always a few who have to complain about every inconvenience, like having to wait in line, or showing up at the wrong poll (that’s THEIR mistake, not mine!) People come in after not voting since the last Presidential election and berate us because their names have been dropped from the list.
In addition, the Government Accountibility Board’s rules (election commission) are complicated, often are counter-intuitive, and must be followed to the letter. There are dozens of reports to file along with the ballots and a plethora of procedures that must be followed. All while clamoring and impatient voters are hasseling you.
There are several trainings per year that we must attend because the rules are always changing, but somebody always misses the trainings because of illness, etc. I have an entire bookshelf of binders of GAB rules.
I didn’t work this year because of other responsibilities. I’m glad that I stayed home.
How many elections does this "overworked clerk" have to oversee?
This poor shlub will have to verify and count a couple of thousand ballots over the next month.
There is some real tough duty.
There is not *one* clerk. In my precinct, which covers several rural townships, there are _always_4-6 people working the election. In the nearest town, I know one of the election workers and they do not just work the day of the election, they also work before the election when the absentee ballots need to be certified and sometimes they need to work after the election if provisionals and military ballots are to be counted.
The youngest election worker I have seen or known is about 50. Most are women. By that time of life, one has raised a family, worked in several different capacities and, usually, has become an efficient worker, if not also a tough old bird (I can say that, being one).
Always be suspicious when the media begins holding a pity party. Because, in this instance, the next moan and groan will be about how difficult it is to hold judicial (school board/county supervisor)elections in the off years, so why not do away with all the bothersome voting stuff and just _appoint_ these positions. Ten years down the road, when there are no longer any experienced election workers, the push will be on to get rid of all elections in favor of some unverifiable online poll conducted from a phone.
Anyone under 50 had better start agitating loudly about all this stealth robbery of essential democratic rights. Those of us over 60 won’t be around to educate or do the work forever. At some point, we really do become too old for a lot of things and eventually, everyone dies. If no one remembers America, America will no longer exist.
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