Wisconsin Supreme Court candidate JoAnne Kloppenburg announced Wednesday she would seek a statewide recount of the results of the April 5 election.
""It is right for me, it is right for my campaign, it is right for my supporters, and it is right for the people of Wisconsin,"" Kloppenburg said.
Last week's tallies put Kloppenburg 7,316 votes behind incumbent Justice David Prosser, a margin slim enough to allow for a recount to be conducted at the expense of the state. The margin of difference was .488 percent, falling within the .5 percent threshold required for the state to foot the bill.
Following Prosser's victory, members of his campaign urged Kloppenburg not to ask for a recount, claiming the process would be a costly drain on the time and resources of the state.
Stern words from Prosser's campaign continued Wednesday in response to Kloppenburg's announcement.
""We learned something this afternoon from JoAnne Kloppenburg … The only way she can achieve her nakedly political goal is to do one thing: challenge and disenfranchise thousands of Wisconsin citizens who exercised their right to vote April 5th and believed this election over,"" Prosser campaign spokesman Brian Nemoir said in a press release.
One person in the crowd of Kloppenburg supporters at her press conference Wednesday agreed with the Prosser campaign. The man repeatedly heckled her about the costs of a recount, but Kloppenburg ignored the comments.
Kloppenburg had until Wednesday to file a recount request with the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, the state agency that presides over election disputes.
""We have been preparing for a recount since election night,"" GAB director and general counsel Kevin Kennedy said in a statement. ""We anticipate the recount will begin the week of April 25.""
Official state recount procedure indicates canvassers from counties with disputed results will conduct the recount, though Kloppenburg specifically requested a special investigator to examine the results from Waukesha County.
Votes from Waukesha County were initially omitted from a tally due to a clerical error, the correction of which swung the election from Kloppenburg to Prosser.
