Alexander Shur
@AlexanderShur
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Covering Wisconsin election administration for @VotebeatUS | Past: Wisconsin politics @WiStateJournal
Madison, WI
Joined May 2020
But in speaking with election officials, I learned that many of them are reluctant to use a commercial e-pollbook that connects to the internet (just about all commercial options do, at some point). Security experts less concerned w/ connectivity. Latest:.
votebeat.org
Internet-linked systems raise security concerns, but experts say the risk isn’t so great.
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Last month, I reported on how Wisconsin election officials wanted weren't completely satisfied with the state's in-house e-pollbook, Badger Book. Wisconsin Elections Commission formed a work group to learn about other options. (1/2).
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Poll: Is a cream puff really better than a jalapeno-popper-pretzel-wrapped chedder brat?.
Folks, we’re less than 1️⃣ week away from the 2025 @WiStateFair! 🎡. I'll be counting down with all of my favorite things at the State Fair, starting with. Cream puffs, of course!. There’s nothing better.
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New guv candidate, new WisDems chair. It's (recently) uncharted territory for Wisconsin Dems -- probably one that Republicans favor.
Crystal Ball gubernatorial rating change:. WI-GOV Leans D to Toss-up after Gov. Tony Evers (D) decides not to run for another term. Ds should still have a decent chance to hold it in context of 2026 but incumbency is still valuable in GOV races, so there's added variability now.
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RT @ichbinGisele: This is how websites die. Data from @pewresearch shows that Google users are more likely to end their browsing session e….
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RT @MollyBeck: The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking information on election fraud in Wisconsin from Secretary of State Sarah Godlewski….
jsonline.com
Federal officials are seeking Wisconsin voter registration data as part of a broader effort to gather information about elections in states.
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RT @OzzyOsbourne: It is with more sadness than mere words can convey that we have to report that our beloved Ozzy Osbourne has passed away….
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Milwaukee people, please comment with your top 5 dishes/restaurants in the MKE area.
May my legacy in Madison be this list of my five favorite foods in the area:. Chicken Licks — wings! 6x dry rub is the sweet spot.Hot n Spicy — laab! but everything is so good.Greenbush Bar - New Haven pizza.Lao Laan Xang — Stuffed chicken wings.Petra Bakery — mixed shawarma bowl.
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RT @MollyBeck: UWM project mapping Milwaukee racial covenants hits snag after Trump agency cuts funding via @Kelly….
jsonline.com
Two UWM professors are hoping to secure at least $30,000 to finish the project that received help from 5,000 volunteers.
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May my legacy in Madison be this list of my five favorite foods in the area:. Chicken Licks — wings! 6x dry rub is the sweet spot.Hot n Spicy — laab! but everything is so good.Greenbush Bar - New Haven pizza.Lao Laan Xang — Stuffed chicken wings.Petra Bakery — mixed shawarma bowl.
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This means, folks, that I’m moving to Milwaukee! . Staying at @VotebeatUS and really looking forward to getting to know the SE Wisconsin election community better. A ton goes on there! I’ll be back in Madison for court hearings, legislative hearings.
Late in sharing this, but … . I said farewell to my colleagues at the @CapTimes in June and started a new gig covering culture/tourism at the @MKEBizJournal a few days later!
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NEW: Madison clerk was on a cookie-baking staycation as missing-ballot mess unfolded.
votebeat.org
Records obtained by Votebeat help explain what Maribeth Witzel-Behl was up to when the crisis erupted in her office: a baking staycation.
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Between early and mid-December, city employees from a wide variety of departments thanked Witzel-Behl for her cookies. On Dec. 16, one person sent a clerk’s office staffer an email asking, “Are these cookies for the entire first floor? The entire building? The entire universe?”.
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“I had assumed — obviously erroneously — the clerk was vacationing in some faraway place,” Millis told Votebeat, denouncing Witzel-Behl for not personally managing the discovery of the uncounted ballots.
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She also arranged additional deliveries and rented more cars for later, an email sent Dec. 13 shows. “We still have several packages of cookies, so feel free to pick a few agencies for another delivery,” she suggested to 16 staffers across the city, mostly in her office.
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Records of the baking haven't been previously reported, and weren't part of WEC's investigation of the incident. “This is remarkable,” GOP commissioner Don Millis said when Votebeat showed him some findings. “None of the witnesses we deposed disclosed her cookie staycation.”.
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How many cookies? One person close to the clerk's office told me she made "thousands." An invite to her "cookie extravaganza" states Witzel-Behl was making 100 *kinds* of cookies. All the while, her staff was sitting on a batch of uncounted ballots and had just found another.
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Witzel-Behl took off parts of or the entirety of 17 vacation days between Nov. 11 and Dec. 6, records show. She claims to have learned about the second batch of ballots on Dec. 10. That same day, she told staff she was renting city cars for them to assist w/ cookie deliveries.
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🧵NEW: WEC appointees yesterday questioned why the former Madison clerk was absent as 193 ballots were missing. Records obtained by Votebeat show she was having a baking "staycation" amid the snafu, and when she returned to work she had staff deliver cookies around the city.
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Unclear whether Rep. Tom Tiffany just launched a gubernatorial bid with a photo of him holding a crappie.
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