Politics & Government

WI Supreme Court Recount Now About 45.6% Finished in Waukesha County

About 57,000 ballots have been counted in recount race between incumbent David Prosser and Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg

The Waukesha County recount process is moving along after receiving an extension to complete counting ballots. As of 3:45 p.m. Wednesday, about 57,000 ballots were counted, said Ellen Nowak, chief of staff to Waukesha County Executive Dan Vrakas.

"Yesterday was our biggest day as far as volume," Nowak said. "We are hoping to sustain that pace."

The recount officials currently are reviewing and counting ballots from the city of Waukesha and the town of Oconomowc. Waukesha is about halfway through counting ballots and halfway through reconciling its poll books, Nowak said.

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The city of Waukesha could be completed Thursday or early Friday, Nowak estimated. Recounters will work through Saturday before breaking for a day off on Sunday.

The county has counted about 45.6 percent  of the 125,070 ballots cast in the April election that has been controversial due to an error by Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus. Nickolaus did not include the votes from the entire city of Brookfield in an unofficial report given to the media on election night.

Find out what's happening in Waukeshawith free, real-time updates from Patch.

No major issues in the recount has occurred on Wednesday, Nowak said.

One Town of Waukesha bag is being kept seperate as an exhibit, though, a county employee told recounters while telling them to keep the ballots separated as they review the sheets.

Nowak said the ballots are being kept as an exhibit because the ballot bag had a gap near the top, which has been an occasional issue in Waukesha County and throughout the state.

"They are being counted here tonight," said Nowak, meaning the ballots are not being thrown out by the Board of Canvassers during the recount.

Meanwhile, the general chatter in the room prompted retired Waukesha County Circuit Court Judge Robert Mawdsley ask people to quiet down as ballots are being tabulated. Mawdsley is in charge of the recount process after Nickolaus recused herself from the process.

The error, while discovered during the Board of Canvassers, has brought scrutiny into the election process in Waukesha County as the vote snafu made it look like Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg had defeated incumbent David Prosser. Instead, Prosser won by about 7,000 votes pending the completion of the recount in the state Supreme Court election.


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