For Immediate Release:
ProtectOurElections.org Calls for Department of Justice Investigation into Vote Count Irregularities in Waukesha County, Wisconsin
WASHINGTON, April 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — In a stunning development Thursday, 14,315 votes in Tuesday's election for Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice were added to the vote total for Waukesha County, the largest Republican-dominated county in Wisconsin, netting 7,582 additional votes for incumbent Justice David Prosser. The additional votes give Prosser the victory in the heated race for the high court. As of Tuesday, challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg had been ahead in the race, according to totals compiled by the Associated Press. These new votes will reverse the election result and add new financial burdens for any recount. ProtectOurElections.org now calls for an immediate Department of Justice investigation and impoundment of all voting machines, computer equipment, ballots, memory cards and other evidence in order to verify a fair vote count in Waukesha County. This investigation must include a review of all communications including emails and telephone records between Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus, others in the Waukesha clerk's office, and all outside persons and interested parties to the election dispute.
"Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus is a partisan activist who has a long history of election irregularities and questionable conduct," said Protect Our Elections spokesman and attorney Kevin Zeese. "She was given immunity from prosecution in a 2002 criminal investigation into illegal activity by members of the Republican Assembly caucus where she worked as a data analyst and computer specialist. Last year, it was discovered that she unplugged election results from the State system and instead stored them only on her personal computer, and then resisted an audit which found such conduct in violation of accepted practices. She was also taken to task for keeping election results secret from others, refusing to follow security protocols, and for letting her 'Republican activism' interfere with her job. And now, it appears that she intentionally held back these new vote totals from other officials and observers but leaked the data to conservative bloggers to break the story. Finally, it is being reported that she previously worked with and was hired by Judge Prosser. Based on these shocking developments and to ensure the fairness of the election results, the Department of Justice must immediately step in and conduct at a full, impartial, and independent investigation into this matter directed by its Civil Rights Voting Section. "
ProtectOurElections.org has for years been advocating for secure elections, and questioning the validity and vulnerability of results from electronic voting machines and electronic vote-counting systems, because these results can easily be altered without leaving a trace of evidence.