Shocking Recount News from WI
Steven L. Taylor
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Thursday, April 21, 2011
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7 comments
Here’s the shocker: the candidate currently ahead in the count thinks there shouldn’t be a recount (Prosser says there’s no need for recount) but the one who is behind wants one (Kloppenburg requests recount in state Supreme Court race).
Boy, what will those wacky politician types do next?
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
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It’s not surprising here. The liberal Democrat Kloppenburg was all too eager to declare victory with the early results showing her a couple of hundred votes ahead. But now that Republican judge Prosser is several THOUSAND votes in the lead, but just under the recount margin, the liberals are demanding a recount.
Something smells like election fraud about the be perpetrated upon Wisconsin by the Democrats to me.
I am truly shocked! I have never been able to figure our why the looser always ask for a recount and never the winner. I have also noticed how many times the looser can always find a few extra votes needed to win, no matter how many recounts it takes.
I know if I won election, I’d demand a recount, because I would not believe that that many people would vote for me.
Had the missing 14,000 votes issue that tipped the result over not happened, I doubt she asks for a recall with this big of a gap. And I can understand why that would give pause to Kloppenburg supporters. However, it appears to have been an issue of incompetence, not fraud.
I backed Kloppenburg in the election, but I wish she hadn’t gone forward with the recount here. I have no faith it will overturn the result, and just waste a lot of time, money and news coverage.
Given the stakes for the people of Wisconsin, the closeness of the election, and the voting irregularities, a recount makes perfect sense.
It probably won’t change the outcome, but there’s enough chance that it will — and the will of the people needs to be respected.
If this was a race for dog catcher, I can see just shrugging and accepting an imperfect counting that might have an incorrect outcome. But it’s not dog catcher.
I would like to know where the money is coming from for her to continue this effort. The left has a real hard time accepting defeat. Get used to it.
Yes, you simply can’t find any examples of Republicans not accepting defeat and dragging recounts out tirelessly. Ever.
I live in Wisconsin. According to WI State law, the loser of an election is entitled to a recount at taxpayer expense if the margin of victory falls within .5 percent. With Prosser’s victory margin at .48 percent, Kloppenberg is within her legal right to request a recount. The law is clear. End of story.
Any time there is an irregularity like that which occurred in this election, we should all welcome a recount simply to restore confidence in the system and to rule out any fraud.