Wisconsin Officials Investigate Nearly 200 Uncounted Absentee Ballots After November Election

Nearly 200 absentee ballots were not counted in Wisconsin's liberal capital after the November 5 election. This has led state election officials to investigate whether Madison City Clerk Maribeth Wetzel-Biehl violated any laws. The Wisconsin Elections Commission unanimously agreed to examine if Wetzel-Biehl failed to follow state law or misused her discretion. Concerns arose because the clerk's office did not report the issue until late December, nearly six weeks post-election.

The commission chair, Ann Jacobs, certified the state's election results on November 29. Wetzel-Biehl's office stated that the uncounted votes did not change any race or referendum outcomes. However, Jacobs described the oversight as "so egregious" that an investigation is necessary to prevent similar issues in upcoming spring elections. "We are the final canvassers," Jacobs said. "We are the final arbiters of votes in the state of Wisconsin and we need to know why those ballots weren't included anywhere."

Investigation into Uncounted Ballots

Wetzel-Biehl expressed her willingness to cooperate with the commission to identify what went wrong and how to avoid such problems in future elections. This incident adds to previous errors by Wetzel-Biehl, who admitted in September that her office mistakenly sent up to 2,000 duplicate absentee ballots due to a data processing error.

According to documents from the election commission, they became aware of the uncounted ballots on December 18. Wetzel-Biehl's staff informed them that more absentee ballots were recorded as received than were counted in three city wards. The commission requested a detailed explanation from Wetzel-Biehl, which she provided two days later.

Details of Uncounted Ballots

The memo revealed that on November 12, 67 unprocessed ballots for Ward 65 and one for Ward 68 were found in a courier bag inside a vote tabulating machine. Additionally, during ballot reconciliation for Ward 56 on December 3, 125 unprocessed ballots were discovered in a sealed courier bag. Reconciliation is a post-election process where officials account for every ballot created, starting immediately after an election and clerks have 45 days to complete it.

The memo did not offer an explanation but mentioned plans "to debrief these incidents and implement better processes." On December 26, the clerk's office issued a statement saying it had informed the elections commission and would send apology letters to affected voters.

Reactions from City Officials

Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway released a statement on December 26, noting that her staff was unaware of the issue until December 20. She announced plans to review the city's election procedures. "While the discovery of these unprocessed absentee ballots did not impact the results of any election or referendum, a discrepancy of this magnitude is unacceptable," she stated.

Wisconsin remains a key battleground state in presidential elections. In November, Republican Donald Trump won Wisconsin by about 29,000 votes over Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. Madison and Dane County are known liberal areas; Harris secured 75% of the vote there.