To Donate to the Kloppenburg campaign go here (they are facing large legal expenses despite the fact that the costs of the actual counting are being picked up by the local governments):
http://kloppenburgforjustice.com/
UPDATE: WKOW Channel 27 in Madison reports:
JoAnne Kloppenburg for Supreme Court Justice campaign has just arrived at the Government Accountability Board's office to file papers for a recount.
UPDATE 2 : Statement from GAB Director Kevin Kennedy:
The Government Accountability Board is prepared to move forward with a statewide recount of votes for Supreme Court Justice, as requested by the Kloppenburg campaign today. We have been preparing for a recount since Election Night. We have assembled an internal team to direct the recount, we have been in close consultation with our county clerk partners, and have arranged for legal representation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice. We anticipate the recount will begin the week of April 25, and plan to hold a teleconference meeting for county clerks on Monday afternoon.
Joanne Kloppenburg will announce her decision of whether to seek a recount of the April 5th, 2011 election for Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court at 4 p.m. CDT today. I will update this diary as soon as the announcement is publicized.
Kloppenburg had once declared a narrow victory over the incumbent, David Prosser, but Prosser eventually assumed a lead of just over 7,300 votes when Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus added 14,000 votes from the city of Brookfield two days after the election. Nickolaus claims she mistakenly omitted the Brookfield numbers from the totals she gave to the media on election night because she forgot to hit “save” in the program she was using to tally the votes.
Prosser has since declared victory twice, once last Friday when the final county canvass totals were submitted to the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board (GAB) and again Monday when he added that a recount would be “frivolous” and that he had assembled a legal team to fight the recount. It was not clear on what grounds he would challenge the recount. The margin of victory was less than one half of one percent, which means the cost of a recount would be borne by Wisconsin counties and municipalities.
GAB inspectors have been in the offices of clerk Nickolaus since her surprise announcement of the found votes. The inspectors say they are satisfied that the totals from Waukesha County have been recorded accurately, despite a couple of “anomalies” they will detail in a forthcoming report. They are also reviewing records from elections held up to 5 years ago after receiving numerous complaints about confusing and incomplete election results appearing on the clerk’s official website. Questions raised in a diary on Daily Kos eventually prompted Nickolaus to add additional explanations and asterisks to her site in an attempt to clarify why the votes recorded in some races in 2006 totaled greater than the figure given for "total ballots cast" listed at the top of the report.
Nickolaus has been criticized by the Waukesha County Board for her non-standard and secretive methods of tallying votes. She has previously laughed off those criticisms and audit findings but has said recently that she is making changes under the supervision of the GAB and will not resign from her elected position.
Joanne Kloppenburg, a virtual political unknown when the campaign began, closed a 30-point gap in the polls during the final 6 weeks of the campaign. Wisconsin labor unions and their supporters provided spontaneous endorsements and unofficial campaign support to Kloppenburg during that time in an effort to defeat David Prosser. Prosser is the former Republican Speaker of the Wisconsin Assembly and is part of a 4-3 conservative majority on the court. It is widely believed by the union supporters that Prosser will be a rubber stamp for Republican Governor Scott Walker’s recently passed union-busting bill and other far-right-wing initiatives. The union-busting bill is not in effect while it is under legal challenges – challenges that most observers assume will eventually end up in the Wisconsin Supreme Court.
UPDATE 3, A few reactions:
One Wisconsin Now Executive Director Scot Ross:
The request for a recount is completely justified given the controversy over the Waukesha County Clerk's actions, her secrecy and the narrow margin. The unprecedented turnout by working Wisconsinites, due in large part to continuing lying, deceit and disregard for the laws of Wisconsin by Gov. Scott Walker and his allies in the legislature, may be a problem for Walker, David Prosser and their pro-corporate string-pullers, but it truly is what democracy looks like. We must ensure our elections are fair and clean and that the will of the people is honored. Our democracy, contrary to the astonishing claim of Prosser's lawyer, is not 'frivolous.'
Prosser spokesman Brian Schimming:
It may well take several weeks and it'll be an immense cost and it frankly begs the question of what the motive is... because there is no statistical, logical, evidence-based or even anecdotal reason to do this recount.
Kloppenburg's written statement here (hat-tip to Naranjadia in the comments) :
http://kloppenburgforjustice.com/...
Audio of Kloppenburg announcement here, scroll to the bottom to see the link:
http://www.wrn.com/...