Theft in Fitzwalkerstan

Republicans are not good at many things, especially governing, but the few things they do well they do superbly well.  One is lying.  Another is stealing elections.  Who can forget paid republican staffers imported to Florida from DC who physically assaulted campaign workers to prevent them from recounting ballots in 2000.  And do you remember the precincts in Ohio in 2004 that Bush won with more votes that there were registered voters?  So it should come come as no surprise that a partisan Republican clerk, who used to work for Prosser, and who has a history of criminal behavior in a political setting  has found just enough additional votes to give Prosser a win over Kloppenberg.

The tally of a close Wisconsin Supreme Court election, which had come to be a referendum on Republican leadership in the state, turned upside down on Thursday evening: the incumbent justice, viewed as a conservative, took a lead of more than 7,000 votes after a clerk in one Republican-leaning county announced she had initially failed to report some 14,000 votes.

The development quieted expectations that the race would be decided in a statewide recount. But it also set off a wave of skepticism from Democrats and union supporters, who had viewed the contest as an outlet for their fury at the Republican cuts to collective bargaining rights. Those forces had supported the challenger, and said they found it convenient that votes for the incumbent, Justice David T. Prosser Jr. [fascist delinked], were suddenly discovered.

“Wisconsin voters as well as the Kloppenburg for Justice Committee deserve a full explanation of how and why these 14,000 votes from an entire city were missed,” said Melissa Mulliken, the campaign manager for JoAnne Kloppenburg. Ms. Kloppenburg declared victory over Justice Prosser on Wednesday when an unofficial vote count showed her with a 204-vote lead out of more than 1.4 million cast…

…The Waukesha County clerk, Kathy Nickolaus, said she had failed on election night to save votes from Brookfield in her computer, according to The Associated Press. The result: 10,859 more votes for Justice Prosser, who won strong support from Republicans, and 3,456 more for Ms. Kloppenburg, an assistant state attorney general.

According to The A.P., Ms. Nickolaus was granted immunity in 2002 in a criminal investigation into illegal acts by members of the Republican Caucus in the State Assembly, where she had worked as a data analyst and computer specialist. Before being appointed to the court in 1998, Justice Prosser served as a Republican in the Assembly, and rose to be speaker… [emphasis added]

Inserted from <NY Times>

In addition, during a recent state audit, Nickolaus refused to cooperate with IT specialists who wanted to check her computer for integrity and backup plan.

Rachel Maddow discusses irregularities with Mordecai Lee, former Wisconsin State Senator.

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Ed Schultz discussed the issue with John Nichols.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Now, I readily admit that I have no proof that this was not an honest mistake as claimed, but when you consider the history of both individual and party, that appears most unlikely.  Were she above board, why did she insist on a free standing PC that she alone controlled when auditors had recommended a networked unit with safeguards and data redundancy?