Oops. I have a correction to make. I made a boo-boo. In my post, “Well That’s Odd…(or, Who Called the Wisconsin Recall Election, Revisited)”, I stated the following:
“Unlike every other “AP election night results vs. GAB certified results” comparison from the elections listed above, which consistently showed AP with different (lower) results than the GAB, the June 5th recall election results from both sources – the unofficial AP election night results and the certified results from the GAB – were identical…right down the line. The only thing that will make the results different in the end are the new recount numbers from Racine County. The same is true of the CNN election night results.”
I was actually wrong about that: the results weren’t identical right down the line and actually were lower, as with other elections I looked at. I’m sorry…my bad! I was wrong about something else, too, but I’ll get to that in a minute…
I discovered my mistake this morning when following up on the election results from the Walker Recall election. I had visited the GAB site to get the updated results, post-District 21 recount, but, to my (feigned) surprise, they weren’t there. So, I sent off an email to the GAB to ask where I might find them:
Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2012 7:41 AM
To: GAB HelpDesk
Subject: June 5th Final Results
I am trying to find the Excel version of the final certified results (by county and ward) for all of the recall election held on June 5, 2012. I have been to the GAB site where the results are posted, but none of the links seem to be for the final count (post-Senate District 21 recount). Please provide a link (or attach to your reply) the information I am seeking. Again, I am seeking the Excel spreadsheet that lists, both by county and by ward, the final certified results from all recall elections held on June 5, 2011.
Your expedient cooperation is greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Nomi Rene
And at 10:47, I received the following response:
Good morning,
I apologize for this not being posted. Our PIO was absent a few days and it must have gotten lost in the shuffle. It is posted now at the following link:
http://gab.wi.gov/...
I apology for the delay in posting this information.
Diane M. Lowe
Lead Elections Specialist, CERA
Government Accountability Board, Elections Division
P.O. Box 7984
Madison, WI 53707-7984
Phone: 608-266-3276
Fax: 608-267-0500
Email: diane.lowe@wisconsin.gov
http://gab.wi.gov
Pleased as punch to get a fairly fast response and the results I was looking for, I followed the link, downloaded a copy of the post-recount results, and began to do my comparison to the previous results. And again, much to my (feigned) surprise, it didn’t take long to find something that made me go “Eh?” and “Hmmm….” Within minutes I found that there was no difference for any county – not even those in senate district 21 – between the pre-recount totals and the post-recount totals. Eh? What’s more, if I’m my math skills are up to par, both the pre- and post-recount totals were a mere 0.0008% off for Walker, and 0.0015% off for Barrett, as compared to the AP results. Hmmm…
In reviewing other results from previous elections…well, one – the Prosser/Kloppenburg fiasco… I found that the pre-recount totals for Prosser were off by 1.65%, and by 0.66% for Kloppenburg. The post-recounts totals for Prosser were off by 1.73%, while the Kloppenburg totals were off by 0.76%. (That Prosser’s count was increased by more than double the percentage is enough to raise my eyebrow, but I won’t go there now.) I would really like to do the same kind of comparison for the 2010 Walker-Barrett battle for Governor, but AP does not seem to have those election night results as they do for nearly every other election we’ve had since that infamous election. As I stated in that post I mentioned at the beginning:
For whatever reason, AP – the official unofficial caller of important elections – did not seem to have an interest in the 2010 WI gubernatorial election, because (once again) I can’t find the same kind of county-by-county live results page as I was able to for the Prosser/Kloppenburg election, the August 9th and 11th senate recalls, and the recent June 5th recall elections (thanks to a reader!). However (interestingly), I was able to find AP results for the 2010 gubernatorial primary. Weird how they have results for the primary but not the general election...
Considering that the integrity of the recall election is in question, and knowing that not only was
our SVRS in the hands of some very questionable people (at least, their backgrounds are questionable in terms of trustworthiness), but also that), but also that the “People in Charge of Wisconsin Voting Machines” is this extremely questionable is this extremely questionable “
Command Central*” – and both were in place for the 2010 election – I’m more than just a little concerned about the integrity of all Wisconsin election since 2008. I’m also very curious as to why AP does not seem to have the 2010 results available on their site, as they do all of the above mentioned election results. And I’m REALLY curious as to why the GAB has made very little noise about the pre- or post-recount results being posted. The results of only gubernatorial election to be won by the incumbent didn’t seem to be a big deal to them; I mean, there was a small announcement on the GAB site and their Twitter account, but other than that…it’s like it really wasn’t that big a deal. Clearly, the recount for Senator Wanggaard was far bigger news.
I can’t help but think something funky is going on in Fitzwalkerstan, and has been for more than just a few years...and I'm quite perturbed about it. But my mind is fried right now; everything about this state is making my head spin, so 'nuff said on this for now.
If anyone out there would like to double-check my work, I’m happy for you to do so and let me know what you find! I’m also still looking for someone who can find the June 5th recall results on the Associated Press (AP) site WITHOUT FIDDLING WITH THE URL (meaning, using a search engine or via a link from another site); if you have, I would really love to hear from you! So far, I still can’t find anything…which tells me, AP intentionally buried them. What does it tell you?