Nickolaus fends off calls for resignation

Waukesha County clerk vows to implement improved practices

April 12, 2011

0 Comments

By Laurel Walker of the Journal Sentinel

April 12, 2011 0

Waukesha — Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus, under blistering attack by critics since an election night reporting error that temporarily reversed results of the Supreme Court race, on Tuesday rejected calls that she resign.

"I will serve the remainder of my term," Nickolaus said in a written statement. "I understand why people are upset and I am taking this matter seriously. Again, I am sorry for my mistake."

Earlier Tuesday, Waukesha County Democratic Party Chairman Victor Weers said in a news release that not only has the clerk's vote-counting and reporting process produced problems, but "Ms. Nicholaus (sic) has willfully ignored pleas to repair her broken reporting process in an open and technologically reliable way."

"We must have a county clerk that we can trust to do this important work of the people with competence, security and openness. Waukesha must have a new county clerk now."

In her written response, Nickolaus said:

"I have immediately begun the process of reviewing my procedures. I have also asked the Government Accountability Board and the Waukesha County auditor to assist my office in a review and implementation of improved practices and procedures to make sure the process is more transparent and this mistake does not happen again. I will use the remainder of my term to restore the voter's (sic) confidence in me."

Nickolaus was first elected county clerk in November 2002 after winning a Republican primary race against former deputy county clerk Kathy Karalewitz. She was re-elected in 2004, 2006 and 2008 without opposition, when state law was changed and made the term four years. Her current term expires at the end of 2012.

Nickolaus earns $67,787 a year.

Nickolaus came into the spotlight last Thursday after she announced in a news conference that on election night she had failed to save on her computer more than 14,000 votes reported from the City of Brookfield, and as a result, issued an unofficial summary report to the media that was wrong.

She corrected the totals during the official canvass. The change meant that incumbent Supreme Court Justice David Prosser had surpassed challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg by about 7,500 votes, reversing the 204-vote lead she held statewide after election day.

Both campaigns and state election officials from the Government Accountability Board have since pored over her canvass report and municipal vote-tallying machine tapes to verify the results. No recount can be requested until every county has certified its results to the state, which is expected to be finished by Thursday or Friday.

On Tuesday, Kevin Kennedy, executive director of the Government Accountability Board, said that while nothing criminal has been observed so far, Nickolaus' business practices "need to be changed to bolster public confidence."

Melissa Mulliken, the campaign manager for Kloppenburg, said, "Whatever she does in the future doesn't change the legitimate questions that exist about what she did last week. Our focus continues to be what happened in Waukesha on the 5th and 6th and 7th of April. That's the issue."

State review to continue

Reid Magney, spokesman for the Government Accountability Board, said Tuesday that state elections workers will return to Nickolaus' office this week to review other municipal results of her canvass in Waukesha County. Results from Brookfield have been verified, he said.

Among the other things the officials expect to do is review her election night reporting practices and determine how she can provide more transparency in reporting results to the public.

"Most county clerks provide detailed information on election night about the votes in each polling place," he said. "The Waukesha County clerk provides only a countywide summary."

While she's not required to report municipal results - something done by her predecessor but discontinued by Nickolaus - there have been complaints on the County Board and by others about the lack of a municipal breakdown.

Brookfield City Clerk Kristine Schmidt said last week she believes the mistake involving Brookfield's results would have been caught immediately if municipal results were shown on the county clerk's election night report.

As of Tuesday, canvassing remained incomplete in Milwaukee and Taylor counties, Magney said.

Milwaukee County Election Commission workers are about to enter the final stage of double-checking vote totals and expect to complete their work late Wednesday or early Thursday, county election administrator Lisa Weiner said. No significant discrepancies have been found so far in the numbers from the county's 19 municipalities, Weiner said.

The Prosser campaign issued a statement Tuesday in anticipation of a recount.

"History does not provide a rosy picture of recounts of a half a percent or less," said Brian J. Nemoir, Prosser recount team spokesman. "While there may be a legal right to a recount, after a review of past results and consideration for the heavy burden upon the state, it is in the best interests of the state to have the common sense decision be made to avoid the unnecessary drama of a recount."

More on JSOnline A blog post leads to an asterisk on Kathy Nickolaus' election page. Read about it on AllPolitics at jsonline.com/statepolitics. More on JSOnline A blog post leads to an asterisk on Kathy Nickolaus' election page. Read about it on AllPolitics at jsonline.com/statepolitics. Bill Glauber and Larry Sandler of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

About Laurel Walker

Laurel Walker covered local, school and county government for 20 years -- the last half of that at the Milwaukee Journal and Milwaukee Journal Sentinel -- before she was named Waukesha County columnist in 1997. Today she writes about the people, places and events around metropolitan Milwaukee with a broad suburban focus. She was the youngest of nine children raised on a central Wisconsin farm before leaving the nest for journalism studies at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a masters degree at the University of Oregon. She has spent the last half of her life in Waukesha County, where she and her husband raised two sons. Though she has a fondness for life in Waukesha, she eagerly partakes in the culture of the big city to the east and the recreation of the forests to the west. With sons in the arts, she has a special fondness for symphonic music concerts and art museums. She finds peace in a good book at a Northwoods getaway weekend, adventure in family visits to the east and west coasts, and satisfaction in a column well-written that reaches readers.