Election Officials Continue Investigation into Madison Clerk’s Office Over 193 Uncounted Ballots

MADISON, Wis. (CIVIC MEDIA) – The Wisconsin Elections Commission is continuing its investigation into the Madison City Clerk’s Office after 193 ballots weren’t counted in the November election. 

The issue was revealed to the public in December, over a month after the election, and weeks after the ballots were found. For more background information, click here. 

That timeline from Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl is under particular scrutiny. 

“We’ve got what I can only say is this absolutely shocking set of dates post-election where every opportunity to fix this is ignored,” said commission chair Ann Jacobs, a Democrat. “[It]  feels like a complete lack of leadership and a refusal to be where the buck stops, because the buck stops with the clerk to manage their own chief inspectors and their own mistakes, and you don’t get to put your head in the sand for weeks at a time.” 

Those 193 ballots weren’t enough to change the outcome of any election. However, all the commissioners agreed that it wasn’t about election results, it was about the right to vote. 

“What’s really important is that 193 ballots didn’t get counted,” said Commissioner Mark Thomsen. “It wasn’t that it didn’t change the result, that’s a consequence. But the right being protected [is more important].”

The Commission chose to continue their investigation, and force city staff to sit for depositions. Those depositions will undoubtedly include Witzel-Behl. They could decide she acted improperly, or illegally. 

The Commission also decided to send guidance to clerks around the state, telling them to look everywhere and ensure every ballot is counted, to prevent this error from happening again in the April 1 election.