With a Media-covered Rap Sheet of Shenanigans, Kathy Nickolaus Might Have Incriminating E-mails on Her Hard Drive

MARK KARLIN, BUZZFLASH EDITOR AT TRUTHOUT

The Republicans in Wisconsin know how to embrace GOP incompetence, likely electioneering manipulation and cronyism, but denounce Democratic voter fraud that barely exists.

In fact, Wisconsin is just a mini-model of the Republican creation of a lie to keep minorities and the poor from voting (the myth of massive illegal voting, when it can actually be counted on a couple of hands, if that, in any given election.) This was the big lie that took down ACORN, among other organizations that worked to register disenfranchised voters.

Then, you have someone like Kathy Nickolaus come along as an elected election chief in Waukesha County, Wisconsin – with a media-covered rap sheet of shenanigans, legal immunity from prosecution, defiance of transparent election counting practices, employed at one time by both David Prosser and Scott Walker, and, among other corrupt practices, a person who sent out, in her official capacity, sample ballots awhile back marked with votes for Republican candidates.

Do you hear even a whimper of condemnation from the state or national Republicans about the integrity of the election process in the hands of someone like Nickolaus? No, and we didn’t here any complaints from the Republican Party about the partisan maneuvering of Katherine Harris back in 2000.

As noted on BuzzFlash at Truthout, Madison Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin detailed just some of the improprieties and questionable practices surrounding Nickolaus in a letter requesting that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) launch an investigation into the vote counting in the Wisconsin Supreme Court election.

It may or may not end up that the approximately 7,500 votes for Prosser that went missing are valid, but a full state recount is in order considering the conduct of Governor Walker and Prosser, as well as GOP election officials such as Nickolaus, during the recent election.

More importantly, the Feds should – as BuzzFlash has called for – seize the personal computer of Nickolaus on which she kept the “official” vote count in Waukesha, against directives not to do so. Whether or not the “found” votes for Prosser are accurate, it is almost universally agreed that her explanation that Microsoft Access was at fault is a virtual impossibility.

Furthermore, there is a strong possibility that there are incriminating emails on the hard drive of that computer that can explain why these votes – if valid – were held out for two days, or there might be correspondence pointing to a broader election counting “enhancement strategy” that was coordinated for Prosser.

Greg Palast did tremendous investigative work in revealing how emails and relationships with Harris’s office played a decisive role in decreasing the Gore vote count in 2000.

The federal investigation should go much wider than Nickolaus because, as in Florida in 2000, something smells very fishy in Wisconsin. But, for the moment, it looks unlikely that the timidity of the DOJ when it comes to the GOP will lead to any formal attempt to get at the truth.

When it comes to election integrity, Democrats are guppies in a pool filled with sharks.

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