AREA REP. SAYS VOTES WERE E-MAILED; COUNTY CLERK DENIES ALLEGATION
Tuesday, May 2nd, 2006 -- 11:40 AM
[url=http://www.cwbradio.com/news/inc/uploads/web_email218.mp3] Audio - 2:18[/url][url=http://www.cwbradio.com/news/inc/uploads/email.mp3] Viewpoint interview with Scott Suder - 2:18[/url]Clark County's Clerk denies allegations votes were e-mailed to her office after the polls closed during the April 4th election and says she's "angry" that an area representative made the claim before checking the facts.
On our Viewpoint program Tuesday morning, Rep. Scott Suder (R-Abbotsford) discussed alleged voter irregularities surrounding the Spring Clark County Board elections. The questions have led to one candidate, Nicole Strickland, filing a memo with the District Attorney's office prompting an on-going investigation; and another, Gene Gregory, filing an actual appeal of the recount.
A recount confirmed Gregory lost his race with incumbent board member Wayne Hendrickson of the Unity area.
Suder attended the recount and voiced his concerns about the election. This morning on Viewpoint, he took it a step further, alleging votes were improperly counted in the Gregory race.
"I think there were some major irregularities," Suder explained. "In one of the races, four ballots were sent in via e-mail - four votes were sent in at 11:30 p.m., well after the polls closed, and counted."
"That's Mr. Gregory's race. I think anyone wants answers in terms of why on Earth you'd send in ballots at 11:30 at night, after the polls closed. How can you possibly either lose those votes or not count them? That seems highly irregular," Suder continued.
But Clark County Clerk Christina Jensen, who is also a Republican, said the allegation is not true.
She said names, not votes, were emailed to her office. The names were supplements to the newly mandated state voter registration lists and didn't impact the vote count.
"On Election Day, the election inspectors added the names of anyone that registered to vote on Election Day. (Those) names were then added to the Supplemental Form, which was supplied by the State of Wisconsin," Jensen explained.
"At 11:18 p.m., I received an e-mail saying those names should be added to the Supplemental list," Jensen says.
Votes weren't accepted after the polls closed - in fact, the ballots were already secured in the Clerk's Office well before the e-mail arrived, Jensen said.
She said she was listening to the program Tuesday morning, and Suder's comments upset her.
"I was kind of angry - to think he actually thought we'd accept those ballots when there weren't any ballots. I wish he would have talked to me first," Jensen said.
A scheduling hearing in the appeal has been set for next Tuesday.
Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.