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Election News Analysis

Posted by Dick Brunner on April 28, 2011

This evening's news revealed that Janet Kloppenberg is requesting a recount after the Republican Waukesha County Clerk botched the initial vote count. With people like her, the Republican party doesn't need any more enemies. The least perception of impropriety destroys all credibility. Given the suspicion cast on the election by the error of the Clerk there is justification a recount now to restore the integrity of the system. This incident  indicates that the election ststem is just as big a problem as voter fraud. Spend the money on the system rather than voter ID cards.

A bigger problem that surfaced in this election is the large number of local Clerks involved in elections: Some 5 thousand I believe. The majority of these would be township employees. Wisconsin has an extra layer of goverrnment  called towns. Towns were an important part of government at the turn of the 20th century, providing basic services to a primarily rural population. Today, counties could easily provide those services like road maintenance and parks. This brings me to the next level. Major county department heads are still elected. These are County Clerk, Register of deeds, District Attorney,Coroner, Clerk of Courts, and Sheriff. From their inception, these offices provided clerical services, record keeping, and  law enforcement.  There were no skills or qualifications to be elected to do the job. Today, all of these functions are very complex and utilize applications of the latest technology. These positions are known as constitutional officers because they derive their existance from the state constitution. These positions should be removed by constitutional amendment and recreated by statute to require professional skills and education and appointed by a select committee chosen b y the county board..