Wisconsin Officials Investigate Nearly 200 Uncounted Absentee Ballots Following November Election

Approximately 200 absentee ballots were not counted in Wisconsin's liberal capital following the 5th November election. This oversight has led state election officials to initiate an investigation into whether Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl violated any laws. The Wisconsin Elections Commission unanimously agreed to investigate if Witzel-Behl failed to adhere to state regulations or misused her authority.

Commission members expressed concern that the clerk's office did not notify them of the issue until late December, nearly six weeks after the election. Ann Jacobs, Chair of the Commission, certified Wisconsin's election results on 29th November. Despite the uncounted votes not affecting any race or referendum outcomes, Jacobs described the oversight as "so egregious" that it warranted an investigation.

Election Oversight and Investigation

"We are the final canvassers," Jacobs stated. "We are the final arbiters of votes in the state of Wisconsin and we need to know why those ballots weren't included anywhere." Witzel-Behl expressed her office's willingness to collaborate with the commission to understand what occurred and prevent future issues.

This incident is another setback for Witzel-Behl, who revealed in September that her office mistakenly sent out up to 2,000 duplicate absentee ballots due to a data processing error. Election commission documents indicate they learned about the uncounted ballots on 18th December when Witzel-Behl's staff reported discrepancies in three city wards.

Details of Uncounted Ballots

The commission requested a detailed statement from Witzel-Behl, which she provided two days later. The memo revealed that on 12th November, 67 unprocessed ballots for Ward 65 and one for Ward 68 were found in a courier bag within a vote tabulating machine. Additionally, during reconciliation on 3rd December, 125 unprocessed ballots were discovered in a sealed courier bag for Ward 56.

Reconciliation is a post-election process where officials account for every ballot created, starting immediately after an election. Clerks have 45 days to complete this task. The memo did not offer explanations but mentioned plans "to debrief these incidents and implement better processes." On 26th December, the clerk's office issued a statement acknowledging the issue and promising apology letters to affected voters.

Response from City Officials

Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway also released a statement on the same day, noting that her staff was unaware of the problem until 20th December. 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 the state by approximately 29,000 votes against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. Madison and Dane County are known liberal areas, with Harris securing 75% of votes there in November.