Reply #8: Wisconsin Supreme Court Election: Kloppenburg ekes out victory; Recount more than likely

[kpete]

The last remaining Wisconsin precinct in Lake Mills has apparently split roughly 700 votes in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race down the middle. That split allows JoAnne Kloppenburg to keep a margin of somewhere between 220 and 230 votes above incumbent Justice David Prosser (there are conflicting reports as to the precise number, but they all fall within that spectrum). The next step is very likely a recount. According to News 3 reporter Jessica Arp on Twitter there is no automatic recount trigger in Wisconsin and it needs to be called by a campaign. Arp adds "if vote within one half of one percent (about 7,000) cost of recount will lie with the state/counties."
With cost of a recount not a factor for the Prosser campaign the recount is very likely. His campaign has three days to make the request. Any recount attempt is sure to draw parallels to the 2008 Minnesota Senate race between Al Franken and Norm Coleman. Franken came out of the final count with a 225-vote victory.
In the February 15, 2011 primary for Wisconsin Supreme Court Prosser received 54.7 percent of the vote. Kloppenburg only managed 25.2 percent with the remaining 19 percent being split between Joel Winnig and Marla Stephens.
http://www.dane101.com/current/2011/04/06/wisconsin_supreme_court_election_kloppenburg_ekes_out_victory_recount_more_than_l