“This is not a case of extra votes or extra ballots being found,’’ Nickolaus said. “This is human error, which I apologize for.’’
Nickolaus said the most significant error occurred when she entered totals from the city of Brookfield, a suburb of Milwaukee, but they were not saved.
Before the announcement, it was assumed 68-year-old conservative Prosser’s race against liberal assistant state attorney general JoAnne Kloppenburg was headed for a recount. But Waukesha County’s corrected totals gave Prosser a 7,500-vote lead, which is likely to stand if none of Wisconsin’s 71 other counties makes significant adjustments while reviewing their ballots.
Opponents of the law that takes away nearly all public employee collective bargaining rights had hoped a Kloppenburg victory would set the stage for the high court to strike it down.
Kloppenburg’s campaign manager demanded a full explanation of how the error occurred. Melissa Mulliken said an open records requests for all relevant documents would be filed.
Rep. Peter Barca, Democratic Assembly minority leader, said the mistake raises significant suspicion that could warrant an investigation.
“It doesn’t instill confidence in her competence or integrity,’’ Barca said.
Nickolaus was given immunity from prosecution in a 2002 criminal investigation into illegal activity by members of the Republican Assembly caucus where she worked as a data analyst and computer specialist. Prosser, who as speaker of the Assembly in 1995 and 1996 controlled the same caucus, was not part of the investigation. Nickolaus resigned from her state job in 2002 just before launching her county clerk campaign.
The corruption probe took down five legislative leaders, all of whom reached plea deals.
Prosser issued a statement saying he was encouraged by various reports from counties as they were beginning the process Thursday of verifying the votes. He did not specifically mention the Waukesha County change.
