Liam Beran
Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl alongside three courier bags.
On an Aug. 7 tour of the Madison city clerk's office, City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl shows reporters the courier bags used to transport absentee ballots to polling stations.
The Madison City Clerk’s Office failed to process or count 193 absentee ballots from the Nov. 5 election due to sorting issues, prompting a city-wide apology and criticism from Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway.
“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,” Rhodes-Conway said in a statement Thursday. “This oversight is a significant departure from the high standard our residents expect and must be addressed and avoided in future elections.”
The unprocessed ballots were from voters in one ward near the Capitol (56) and two wards near Camp Randall (65 and 68). Employees from the clerk’s office discovered one error, affecting 68 absentee ballots from Wards 65 and 68, on Nov. 12 after finding a courier bag of unprocessed envelopes while clearing out voting tabulators. Employees discovered the other error, affecting 125 absentee ballots from Ward 56, on Dec. 3 after finding another sealed courier bag with two carrier envelopes in it.
The City Clerk’s Office said in a news release Thursday that “the number of uncounted absentee ballots was not enough to affect the outcome of any race or referendum on the ballot.”
According to a timeline included with Rhodes-Conway’s statement, the clerk’s office contacted the Wisconsin Elections Commission for advice on Dec. 18. The WEC then notified City Attorney Michael Haas, who informed mayoral staff on Dec. 20.
“Unfortunately, Clerk’s Office staff were apparently aware of the oversight for some time and the Mayor’s Office was not notified of the unprocessed ballots until Dec. 20,” Rhodes-Conway said. “We immediately asked the Clerk’s Office to prepare an explanation and then moved quickly to inform the public.”
When asked why the clerk’s office did not inform the mayor sooner, city spokesperson Dylan Brogan says “that's a very good question.” Brogan says the mayor learned of the errors from Haas, who had been contacted by the WEC.
It’s not the first misstep related to Madison absentee ballots in the general election. In September, the clerk’s office mistakenly sent out 2,250 duplicate absentee ballots, prompting fiery criticism and misleading information from Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Tiffany.
The city plans a review of city election policies and procedures to “ensure this kind of oversight does not recur,” pledged Rhodes-Conway. The clerk’s office said in its news release that polling places in the future would verify the counting of a list of absentee envelope seal numbers on Election Day. The clerk’s office plans to notify and apologize to all affected voters.
