UPDATE 5/23/11 10:50 CDT: It's officially official, now. The difference was 7,004 votes.
From the GAB Press Release:
The Board’s certification notes that Justice Prosser received a total of 752,694 votes and that JoAnne F. Kloppenburg received 745,690 votes, a difference of 7,004 votes, or 0.46%. A total of 1,729 write-in votes were cast for other individuals....Director and General Counsel Kevin J. Kennedy noted that the county canvassing boards discovered and corrected errors made in counting ballots on Election Night and during the original county canvass process. “As expected, the recount process identified issues to address and procedures which can be improved, Kennedy said. “Each of the 1,500,130 ballots was reviewed during the recount to determine the correct results. Both candidates were able to raise questions and challenge ballots in a completely open and transparent manner...."
Elections Division Administrator Nathaniel E. Robinson said the Board intends to conduct a review of the recount process and issues which arose to assess areas for future improvement. “The recount served the dual purpose of verifying correct vote totals for the candidates and public, as well as providing an opportunity for state and local election officials to evaluate procedures for conducting elections and canvassing results,” Robinson said.
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It's officially unofficial. David Prosser wins by 7,004 votes over Joanne Kloppenburg and retains his seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. He's probably at the governor's reception desk right now picking up souvenir pens for his supporters.
From the Government Accountability Board's web site:
As of 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 20, 2011, all 3,602 Reporting Units have reported results, which have been reviewed by G.A.B. staff. That is 100% of all Reporting Units.In total the counties have recounted 1,500,130 votes, which is 1,250 more than the 1,498,880 votes originally cast.
This is the final update. There will be no more postings until after 9:00 a.m. the morning of Monday, May 23, 2011 when the unofficial recount results are replaced with the Official Ward by Ward Certified Results.
After the certified results are posted, Joanne Kloppenburg has five business days to appeal the recount results to the courts. I've heard that even if she doesn't appeal, she plans to submit a document to the GAB pointing out the many election system flaws discovered by her team during the recount.
Another guess: The director of the GAB, Kevin Kennedy, will say "Thank you, JoAnne," then drop her report into the circular file.