Officials at the Government Accountability Board will be in court Monday morning to request an extension of a 5 p.m. deadline for Waukesha County in order to complete the recount in the race for a Supreme Court seat.
Kevin Kennedy, the board's director and general counsel, said in a statement that he expects 71 of the 72 counties in the state to meet Monday's 5 p.m. deadline. The exception is Waukesha County.
“Waukesha County’s recount is taking longer than expected, and we will seek a court extension of the deadline on Monday morning,” Kennedy said. “At this time, it is too early to say how much additional time Waukesha County will need.”
Nathanial Robinson, administrator of the elections division, said the recount process has uncovered some issues and corrected some vote totals. But he added that that should be expected in any recount.
“Wisconsin has the most decentralized election system in the United States,” Kennedy said. “The system has strong local control coupled with state oversight, resting on the partnership between the Government Accountability Board, the 72 county clerks, and the 1,850 municipal clerks. State law clearly gives each county’s Board of Canvassers the primary authority to conduct the recount, and to decide which ballots should and should not be counted. Recounting votes is an open, transparent process in which each of the candidates may have representatives present to raise objections, and where the public may be present to observe. The G.A.B.’s legal role is to order the recount, to provide legal guidance to the counties during the recount, and to certify the results. If either of the candidates disagrees with the results of the recount, the law gives them the right to appeal in circuit court within five business days after the recount is completed. The circuit court is where issues discovered during the recount, but not resolved to the satisfaction of the candidates, are resolved.”
Challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg requested the recount in her race against Justice David Prosser.
Monday's hearing will be held before Dane County Circuit Court Judge Richard G. Niess.