Wisconsin Supreme Court

Wis. Supreme Court Recount To Begin Wednesday, Will Take Two Weeks

Eric Kleefeld | April 25, 2011, 5:16PM

Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate JoAnne Kloppenburg

The recount in the much-watched Wisconsin state Supreme Court race is set to begin on Wednesday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

The recount will begin in all 72 counties at 9 a.m. Wednesday and under state law is to be completed by May 9. That tight timeline means the recounts may be conducted in some counties on weekends, said Mike Haas, an attorney for the Government Accountability Board.

The schedule was spelled out in a teleconference the accountability board held for county clerks. Nearly all of the 72 clerks participated, many of them with their staff and members of their local canvassing boards.

Liberal-backed challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg formally requested the recount last week, with incumbent conservative Justice David Prosser ahead by 7,316 votes, or 0.488%. This is within the 0.5% margin that entitled Kloppenburg to request a recount at state and local government expense -- and followed the controversial announcement by the county clerk in heavily Republican Waukesha County that she had discovered un-tabulated votes that were not properly added to the county's database, putting Prosser ahead after trailing in the initial numbers.

Wisconsin Supreme Court

Prosser Leads By Over 7,300 In Official Canvass -- Recount Still Possible

Eric Kleefeld | April 15, 2011, 4:44PM

Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice David Prosser and court candidate JoAnne Kloppenburg

The official county canvassing of votes in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race is complete, the Associated Press reports -- with incumbent conservative Justice David Prosser leading his liberal-backed challenger, Assistant Attorney General JoAnne Kloppenburg, by 7,316 votes out of nearly 1.5 million. But that's no guarantee that the race is over.

Prosser's current margin is still just within the 0.5% margin that would entitle Kloppenburg to request a recount at state and local government expense -- as the state Government Accountability Board, which oversees, elections notes in its press release, the current margin is 0.488% -- a decision that she has three business days to decide upon, before the state will officially certify the results.

The Kloppenburg campaign released this statement from campaign manager Melissa Mulliken:

Now that the statewide canvass is complete, our campaign will focus our decision making on whether to request a recount. By statute, we have three business days in which to make that decision. We will review the information available to us and carefully weigh the options. We will make an announcement concerning our decision no later than Wednesday, April 20, 2011.

And given some of the turns that have already taken place in this election, few would be surprised to see a recount actually happen.

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Wisconsin

Conservative Pundit Sees Vote Fraud In Wisconsin Supreme Court Race (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | April 6, 2011, 4:48PM

The votes barely counted, and a recount likely -- the state Supreme Court race in Wisconsin is not yet truly over. But John Fund, Wall Street Journal columnist and long time voter fraud fearmongerer, is already crying foul in the election that's become a proxy fight over Gov. Scott Walker's (R) assault on collective bargaining rights -- and increasingly looks like a win for progressives.

On a WSJ webcast this afternoon, Fund speculated that investigators in Dane County -- home to Madison and a big part of the state's left-leaning electorate -- or even the state attorney general will be called in to examine what Fund said were thousands of strange ballots which suggest something amiss in the election.

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MN-GOV

Minnesota Recount Part II Set To Begin -- As Board Figures Out The How

Eric Kleefeld | November 23, 2010, 3:25PM

MN-GOV candidates Tom Emmer (R) and Mark Dayton (D)

The Minnesota State Canvassing Board held a busy meeting this morning, as they begin to make some crucial decisions on how the recount will proceed in the gubernatorial race between Democrat Mark Dayton and Republican Tom Emmer.

With the counties finished proofreading their spreadsheets, as well as routine hand recounts in randomly selected precincts to double-check the accuracy rate of the optical-scan machines, Dayton leads by 8,770 votes, or 0.42%. While this is within the 0.5% needed to trigger a statewide recount, many observers have doubted that Emmer could pull ahead, as Dayton's lead is probably too wide to be reversed barring any surprising discoveries in the hand count. However, a possible drawn-out legal contest could potentially result in Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty staying in office in the interim, with the opportunity to work with a newly elected Republican legislature.

With the State Canvassing Board formally declaring there would be a recount, today's meeting has been dominated by questions of how to conduct it, in light of the lessons learned from the thorough recount from the 2008 Senate race -- and the very thorough six months of extra litigation that followed it, with the result being within just a few hundred votes at the time. And a cast of familiar faces from last time, some of them in different roles this time around, grappled with these new issues.

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MN-GOV

Dayton Legal Team Proposes Change To Ballot-Challenge Process In MN-GOV Recount

Eric Kleefeld | November 23, 2010, 10:09AM

MN-GOV candidates Tom Emmer (R) and Mark Dayton (D)

The Minnesota State Canvassing Board is scheduled to meet at 11 a.m. ET today, to formally declare a recount in the gubernatorial race where Democrat Mark Dayton leads Republican Tom Emmer by less than 9,000 votes. And headed into the meeting, the Dayton campaign sent a letter to the board yesterday evening with an interesting request: Make a slight but significant change to the ballot-challenging process.

It's impossible to know at this juncture whether the board will grant this request -- and perhaps the last-minute nature of the request would lean against such a change. But it does show a clear strategy on the part of Team Dayton: With their candidate's lead being much wider than anything Norm Coleman or Al Franken ever enjoyed in the 2008 Senate recount, they're moving early to try to cut off any possible avenues for Emmer to slow down the process or cast doubt on the margin.

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MN-GOV

Minnesota Supremes Rule Against Tom Emmer -- In Record Time

Eric Kleefeld | November 22, 2010, 6:39PM

Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer (R)

The Minnesota Supreme Court has now ruled against Republican gubernatorial nominee Tom Emmer's effort to force counties to sort through precinct rolls and potentially eliminate votes deemed to be excessively cast -- a move that could have delayed the upcoming recount of the election in which Democrat Mark Dayton is ahead. And in a truly remarkable move, the court issued its ruling only about two hours after today's oral arguments.

As The UpTake reported, the ruling was unusually fast. Key quote:

Based on all the files, records, and proceedings, herein,

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED THAT the petition be, and the same is, denied. So as not to impede the orderly election process, this order is issued with opinion to follow.

Petition denied.

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MN-GOV

Dayton And Emmer Lawyers Clash At State Supreme Court

Eric Kleefeld | November 22, 2010, 5:20PM

MN-GOV candidates Tom Emmer (R) and Mark Dayton (D)

The Minnesota gubernatorial race has now seen its first piece of key litigation before the state Supreme Court, with the panel having just heard arguments this afternoon on Republican nominee Tom Emmer's efforts to force counties to potentially remove ballots from the total vote count.

The subject may seem dry, but it could have a real consequence: If the court sides with Emmer, it could potentially delay the recount, which is otherwise supposed to begin on November 29. And what's more, a delay in the recount procedures could have the effect of delaying the seating of a new governor, likely keeping Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty in office in the interim. The State Canvassing Board is scheduled hold a key meeting tomorrow, at which it would order the recount to proceed.

Here is the quick overview: Minnesota law provides for, if a precinct is found to have an excessive number of votes beyond the number of people who are recorded as having voted there, to randomly remove votes from the tallies. The big questions, then, are how to properly determine what the right number is, and whether any true over-voting occurred.

Team Emmer argues that the law can only allow for the people who signed the register to be the proper measurement, while the Secretary of State's rules (which go back to the 1980s) have directed precinct workers to count up the number of separate voter receipts.

No ruling was immediately made. If experience from the last statewide recount is a guide (which is not a guarantee), then a ruling for a pressing recount matter such as this one could potentially occur within the next few days.

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MN-GOV

GOPer's MN-GOV Vote Complaint Leans On Witnesses With GOP Ties

Eric Lach | November 19, 2010, 9:08AM

Tom Emmer

The Republican Party of Minnesota and Tom Emmer's gubernatorial campaign have filed a petition with the state's Supreme Court, alleging that some election judges did not follow the rules when tallying votes. Emmer's argument is that improper record-keeping resulted in extra votes being counted, and he wants the matter addressed before the state's canvassing board certifies the results. But the Minnesota Independent reports that the "vast majority" of the witnesses in the complaint have ties to the Republican Party or the Tea Party movement.

Democrat Mark Dayton leads Emmer by about 8,700 votes, which is close enough to trigger an automatic recount. The canvassing board is scheduled to certify the results on November 23, with a recount slated to begin November 29.

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MN-GOV

MN-GOV Recount Looms -- But Dem Dayton Already Planning Transition

David Taintor | November 19, 2010, 8:36AM

Minnesota Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mark Dayton

Recount? What recount?

Democrat Mark Dayton is making it clear that he's going to be ready if he is declared the next governor of Minnesota, launching his transition site, daytontransition.org -- recount or no.

The site leads with a welcome message from Dayton and his running mate, Yvonne Prettner Solon, saying that while election officials sort out who the official winner is, "the challenges facing us and our State simply cannot wait."

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Mark Dayton

Emmer Files Petition Over Possible 'Overvote' In MN-GOV Race

Jillian Rayfield | November 17, 2010, 3:05PM

MN-GOV candidates Tom Emmer (R) and Mark Dayton (D)

Republican Tom Emmer and the Minnesota Republicans have filed a petition with the state Supreme Court ahead of an expected recount to make sure that there was no "overvote" in the Minnesota governors race.

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2010 elections

Seven House Races Still Undecided

Marc Kilstein | November 16, 2010, 8:46AM

Reps. Melissa Bean (D-IL), Tim Bishop (D-NY), Solomon P. Ortiz (D-TX) and Dan Maffei (D-NY)

Election season isn't finished quite yet. As of today, there remain seven House races that are still in dispute, one impending gubernatorial recount, and one messy Senate write-in fight.

So far, the partisan makeup of the new House is 238 Republicans versus 190 Democrats, with seven seats still up for grabs. All seven of the House seats that remain in question are held by Democrats; five of the contests are currently led by Republican challengers. The uncalled districts are:

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MN-GOV

Emmer Campaign Sues Two Counties In MN-GOV Fight

Eric Kleefeld | November 12, 2010, 3:38PM

MN Gov candidate Tom Emmer (R)

The legal filings are already flying around in the impending Minnesota gubernatorial recount, with Republican nominee Tom Emmer and the state GOP filing lawsuits against two counties, St. Louis and Pine, for not satisfying their data requests immediately.

Now just to be clear, this is not the lawsuit you might be thinking of for a Minnesota recount -- known as an election contest, which would come after the recount itself, and potentially delay the swearing-in of the new governor.

Rather, these are complaints that the counties involved have not delivered important election-related data to Team Emmer, such as voting-machine data, poll rosters, the names of poll workers, incident reports, ballot security information, information on absentee ballots, any communications with the campaign of Democratic nominee Mark Dayton, etc., in a timely manner.

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MN-GOV

Emmer: I Won't Delay In MN-GOV Battle Just For GOP Gain

Eric Kleefeld | November 12, 2010, 10:45AM

Tom Emmer

Minnesota Republican gubernatorial nominee Tom Emmer is speaking out about the possibility of a legal contest keeping GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty in office past the end of his term. While Emmer is not ruling out a possible contesting of the election, should any issues come up during the recount, he also says in strong terms that he would not be a part of delaying a result for the sake of a GOP power grab.

In a one-on-one interview Thursday with WCCO-AM radio sportscaster Michele Tafoya (who disclosed on the air that she had made a donation to Emmer's campaign), Emmer was asked about the scenario that has been much speculated about in the media -- that the GOP might use a legal proceeding to stall Democratic nominee Mark Dayton from taking office, and allowing Pawlenty to pass legislation with the newly-elected Republican legislature.

"Well anybody who thinks that, that's not gonna be what I'd ever be involved in, Michele," said Emmer. "This is not about what I might want, or somebody else."

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MN-GOV

Would The GOP Try To Drag Out MN-GOV Recount To Keep Pawlenty In Office?

Eric Kleefeld | November 11, 2010, 8:56AM

MN-GOV candidates Tom Emmer (R) and Mark Dayton (D)

The likely recount in the Minnesota gubernatorial race, where Democratic former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton currently leads Republican state Rep. Tom Emmer by slightly under 9,000 votes, has presented an interesting possible scenario: Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a potential presidential candidate, could end up staying in office a little while longer if the election gets tied up in the courts -- and with a newly-elected Republican majority legislature, to boot.

Is it possible that the GOP might try to drag out the recount process to pass Republican-friendly legislation without the threat of a Democratic governor's veto pen? So far, one top Republican, the incoming state House Speaker, has said they wouldn't try to do that -- but they would have to get things done eventually. And the possibility does seem to be hanging over the whole proceeding.

Many observers -- including Fritz Knaak, a former lawyer for Norm Coleman -- have said that it would be very difficult for Emmer to win with the vote numbers like this. But if the process were to drag out, it could result in a Republican governor staying in office longer than expected.

As you might recall from the previous statewide recount in Minnesota, the recent legally contested Senate election from 2008 that resulted in a final 312-vote win by Democrat Al Franken, Minnesota will not certify an election winner in a disputed election until a state legal contest (a kind of civil trial) is concluded. And with the result in that election so close, the recount and subsequent legal processes ended up taking eight months, with Franken not being sworn in until July 2009.

And as we also learned the day after the election, Minnesota's state constitution provides for the current governor, Pawlenty, to stay in office until a successor is determined.

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MN-GOV

Legal Teams Taking Shape For Potential MN-GOV Recount Fight

Eric Kleefeld | November 10, 2010, 8:40AM

MN-GOV candidates Tom Emmer (R) and Mark Dayton (D)

The two candidates in the expected Minnesota gubernatorial recount, Democratic former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton and Republican state Rep. Tom Emmer, have each been assembling the kinds of high-powered legal teams that we should expect for a potential stiff legal fight. And there is quite a bit of history linking them all to the previous statewide recount from just two years ago, in the super-close and controversial Senate race between Al Franken and Norm Coleman.

Dayton currently leads by by slightly less than 9,000 votes, or 0.42%, within the 0.5% threshold that would trigger an automatic recount under state law. However, many observers -- including Fritz Knaak, a former lawyer for Norm Coleman -- have said that it would be very difficult for Emmer to pull out the win. By contrast, the 2008 Senate recount resulted in a net margin shift of only about 500 votes, which was enough to change the winner in a race that was even closer than this one.

But a lot is at stake here. The midterm election also produced a Republican-led legislature, overturning previous Dem majorities, and which governor takes office will have a vast difference on the policies the state adopts. And furthermore, if this were to last into early January then it would result in neither taking office immediately. Instead, Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty would remain in office for the interim.

So let's take a quick look at the current state of the legal teams that have been put together.

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MN-GOV

Emmer: 'Minnesota Voters Have Spoken, We Just Don't Know What They Said Yet'

Eric Kleefeld | November 9, 2010, 3:11PM

MN Gov candidate Tom Emmer (R)

Minnesota Republican gubernatorial nominee Tom Emmer just spoke to reporters at a press conference, seeking to deliver a clear message on the likely recount in the race: That the outcome of the election is not settled, and the process needs to play out.

"The statement is just briefly, thank you all for coming. It's nice to know that you all care. There's not much of a statement to make," Emmer said, opening the presser. "The Minnesota voters have spoken, we just don't know what they said yet. There's a process in place that is moving forward, and we should know shortly that the outcome is."

Democratic nominee Mark Dayton currently leads by a bit under 9,000 votes, or 0.42%. Although this is within the 0.5% margin for a hand recount under state law, many observers think that this margin is too wide for a recount to change the outcome -- by contrast, the eight-month long Minnesota Senate recount and legal contest from the 2008 election resulted in a net margin shift of only about 500 votes.

Reporters then asked Emmer a series of key questions: For example, where did he disappear to in the days after the election?

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MN-GOV

Emmer Hires Ex-State Chief Justice (And Ex-Canvassing Board Member) To Legal Team

Eric Kleefeld | November 9, 2010, 1:45PM

MN Gov candidate Tom Emmer (R)

In a further sign that Republican candidate Tom Emmer is going to put up a serious fight in the Minnesota gubernatorial recount, the state GOP has announced the hiring of a very important name for his legal team: Former state Supreme Court Justice Eric Magnuson, who previously served on the state Canvassing Board in the 2008 Senate recount, and will now serve in the role of chief litigator on Team Emmer.

As the Star Tribune notes, Magnuson played a special role within the Canvassing Board itself, keeping detailed notes on the sorts of disputed markings on ballots that the board would encounter, and the "precedents" on how they would count them. (For example, he helped to establish a rule that the state's law against a person signing their ballot would not apply in cases where a person had crossed out a previous choice, then signed the alteration in the manner in which people are accustomed to marking up legal documents.)

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MN-GOV

Emmer Attorney: We're Not Waiving Right To Recount

Eric Kleefeld | November 8, 2010, 3:47PM

Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer (R)

In another sign that the Minnesota gubernatorial race is far from over, Republican nominee Tom Emmer's legal team has told the Associated Press that he will not be waiving a statewide automatic hand recount:

Attorney Tony Trimble says Emmer has already made up ground to Democrat Mark Dayton from election night totals. Emmer now trails Dayton by more than 8,700 votes, which is close enough for an automatic hand recount.

The state recount law provides for a full hand recount if the margin is within 0.5%, but does give an option for an apparently losing candidate to waive that process and call off the recount. But as we see, Emmer will not be exercising that option.

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MN-GOV

Local Fox Reporter Indignantly Grills MN Sec Of State Over Recount (VIDEO)

Eric Kleefeld | November 5, 2010, 6:02PM

Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie (D)

If there's a close election in Minnesota...then Fox News is all over it, and going after the Democrats. Check out this amazing interview that Heidi Collins, formerly of CNN and now an anchor on the local Fox station in her native Twin Cities area, did with Democratic Secretary of State Mark Ritchie on Wednesday night. Among the suspicious points she raises against Ritchie regarding the gubernatorial recount is that...his office was prepared for a recount!

In the race to succeed Repubican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Democratic former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton currently leads Republican state Rep. Tom Emmer by slightly under 9,000 votes, a percentage gap of 0.42% out of about 2.1 million votes. Though this figure is within the 0.5% margin that would trigger a mandatory hand recount, past experience from the state's long-running 2008 Senate recount and legal contest -- in which the margins were only ever a few hundred votes out of 2.9 million ballots -- would suggest that the outcome is highly unlikely to switch to the Republicans.

Collins opened the interview by playing a video clip of state GOP chair Tony Sutton blaming Ritchie for the recount, and saying that it should be "a process that's dominated by an ACORN activist who happens to be the Secretary of State."

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MN-GOV

Minnesota Sec. of State Proposes Recount Schedule For Gov. Race

Eric Kleefeld | November 5, 2010, 1:05PM

Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie (D)

Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's (D) office has released a proposed schedule for the expected gubernatorial recount -- and the state could be cutting it close on this one.

As the Star-Tribune reports, the schedule calls for a State Canvassing Board meeting on November 23, to certify the initial election results and determine the need for any recounts. As of right now, Democratic former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton's lead over Republican state Rep. Tom Emmer is slightly under the 0.5% margin that would trigger a mandatory hand recount.

The recount would then begin on November 29, with a deadline of December 7 for local officials to finish sorting and counting the ballots. The canvassing board would then meet on December 8-10 to sort through any disputed ballots, and then certify the results on December 14.

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MN-GOV

Another Minnesota Recount??? Gov Race Goes Down To The Wire

Eric Kleefeld | November 3, 2010, 9:18AM

MN-GOV candidates Tom Emmer (R) and Mark Dayton (D)

Here we go again...

It looks like Minnesota could be set for another statewide recount, just two years after the highly contentious Senate race that pitted incumbent Republican Sen. Norm Coleman against Democratic activist and former comedian Al Franken. As we all know, Franken ultimately prevailed by a 312-vote margin, reversing a similarly narrow Coleman lead at the start of the recount -- but not after an extended legal battle that delayed Franken's seating all the way into July of 2009.

As the Star Tribune reports, Democratic former U.S. Sen. Mark Dayton now leads Republican state Rep. Tom Emmer by 0.43%, a raw-vote lead of about 9,000, with 20 precincts left to count. This is below a margin of 0.5%, which under state law would trigger an automatic hand recount.

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NV-SEN

A Rundown Of Recount Laws In States With Close Statewide Elections

Brian Beutler and Elizabeth Harrison | October 25, 2010, 12:55PM

Workers recount ballots from the 2008 Minnesota Senate race.

It's been a grueling election season, but at least it will all be over next week.

Unless, of course, it's not. An unusual number of closely contested races means the chances are fairly high that one or more high-profile elections will end in a recount. With nearly 100 House seats in play, a recount could be triggered in just about every state. In Senate and gubernatorial elections, though, we have a better idea of where to watch -- i.e., which races are within the margin of error, or narrowing quickly.

Here's a rundown of recount rules in key states. Remember, control of the Senate could depend on this.

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