Politics & Government
UPDATE: Muskego Marks Beginning of the End for Waukesha County Recount
Final recount of the county and in the state is with Muskego's ballots.
The long process of recounting the ballots cast in the statewide race for Supreme Court is finally coming to an end in Waukesha County, and Muskego holds the dubious distinction of being the last community to have its votes recounted.
Beginning at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 18, workers opened the voting books from each of Muskego's seven districts (only one had yet to be assigned a team at 10 a.m.), and officials were hopeful that they would be completed with the entire process by 5 p.m. The process starts with testing the ballot machine before 'real' ballots are cast, and teams of workers comparing the voting books to make sure the totals match on all counts. Once the machine has passed testing, ballots are fed into it to begin the recount.
Retired Judge Robert Mawdsley, who remains present in the cafeteria-turned-tabulation room along with approved observers from both campaigns, said that while the work has been tedious and long, the trained workers have been "real troopers."
Find out what's happening in Muskegowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
"Many of them have been here from the start, and they've chosen to make the best of things," Mawdsley said. "There have been 'Badger days' and 'Packer days' just to help lighten the mood and make the work a little more enjoyable."
Current totals in the recount have not uncovered any major swings in the original count, which placed Justice David Prosser ahead of challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg by approximately 7,000 votes. Muskego's totals on election night were 6,020 for Prosser and 2,207 for Kloppenburg.
Find out what's happening in Muskegowith free, real-time updates from Patch.
UPDATE:
As of the end of the day, Ellen Nowak, Chief of Staff with the County Executive's office, reported what remains is the Board of Canvass' work to finalize the ballots and poll books for wards in the City of Muskego.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.