The Badger Awakens, Part 7

Democrat JoAnne Kloppenburg has conceded defeat in the recount of the hotly contested Wisconsin Supreme Court race that involved a mysterious recount surprise for her opponent that put him over the top.

Democrat JoAnne Kloppenburg conceded defeat in the dramatic Wisconsin judiciary race that has stretched on since the April 5 election, saying that she would not ask for another recount, but that there was evidence of "significant and widespread errors and anomalies." Republican David Prosser, who has held the seat on the state's Supreme Court for 12 years, will begin a new 10-year term August 1.

However, The BRAD BLOG Monday night published an article claiming that Wisconsin election officials had not followed the proper procedures for the controversial vote recount before certifying the results.

Ballot bags from Waukesha County were photographed wide open instead of sealed shut, in violation of election rules. Waukesha County is the same region where the 14,000 missing votes that prompted calls for a recount were cast. 

Kloppenburg has thrown in the towel anyway.  Let's recall the story of how she had a 200 vote lead until a heavily Republican county said "whoops we forgot to count the votes" and came up with a 7,500 vote lead for her opponent some 24 hours after the election, one that just happened to push the margin of victory out of the realm of being close enough to trigger an automatic recall.  The same conservatives on April 6 who were screaming for a recount immediately said that no recount was necessary a day later.  Kloppenburg raised money for the recount, but the results have stuck.

Brad Blog has more on the massive irregularities in the recount procedure, but either way the Republicans have taken another one, giving them a 4-3 edge on the State Supreme Court that will decide the fate of the state's union-busting bills designed to choke Democratic Party power in the state.  And thus, Wisconsin becomes a red state where Republicans control the vote count process.