The Wisconsin Elections Commission is investigating whether Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl mishandled ballots in the recent election. The investigation was launched after it was discovered that hundreds of ballots were uncounted for several wards in Madison.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission voted unanimously to investigate whether Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl failed to comply with state law or abused her discretion. Commission members said they were concerned the clerk’s office didn’t inform them of the problem until late December, almost a month and a half after the election.
Commission Chair Ann Jacobs Witzel-Behl’s office said in a statement that the number of uncounted votes didn’t affect the outcome of any race or referendum on the ballots. But Jacobs said the oversight was “so egregious” that the commission must determine what happened and how it can be prevented as spring elections approach. “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.” Witzel-Behl said in an email to The Associated Press that her office looks forward to working with the commission to determine what happened and how to prevent the same issues in future elections.According to election commission documents, the commission learned of the uncounted ballots on Dec. 18, when Witzel-Behl’s staff told the commission that they recorded more absentee ballots as received than ballots counted in three city wards. The commission asked Witzel-Behl to provide a detailed statement, which she did two days later. The memo stated that on Nov. 12, the clerk’s office discovered 67 unprocessed ballots for Ward 65 and one unprocessed ballot for Ward 68 in a courier bag found in a vote tabulating machine.The memo also stated that her office was reconciling ballots for Ward 56 on Dec. 3 when 125 unprocessed ballots were discovered in a sealed courier bag. Reconciliation is a post-election process in which officials account for every ballot created. That work begins immediately after an election. Clerks have 45 days to complete i
Wisconsin Elections Uncounted Ballots Madison City Clerk Election Integrity Investigation
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