MADISON — The Wisconsin Elections Commission has filed a formal deposition against Madison city workers regarding 193 uncounted absentee ballots in the 2024 general election.
The vote on the motion was unanimous from the commission Friday, and also seeks to depose anyone who may have had knowledge of how the ballots went uncounted.
The resounding tenor from the Wisconsin Elections Commission was one of concern regarding the seeming lack of urgency from the office of clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl regarding the reporting of the uncounted ballots.
“This feels like a complete lack of leadership…I am genuinely troubled by the number of profoundly bad decisions that are recited in these materials,” said Chair Ann Jacobs regarding a memo laying out the steps taken by the clerk’s office to remedy the situation.
That memo included several unanswered questions on the matter from the commission, including what happened at the polling places that led to the absentee ballot carrier bags going untoiced all day by election inspectors, or why the Dane County Canvass was not notified of the uncounted ballots.
“This isn’t rocket science, this isn’t like the Spacex Starship blowing up yesterday. The explosion for every person was just as big, because their vote didn’t count,” added Vice Chair Mark Thomsen.
While a full list of city workers expected to be deposed is not yet available, WEC members said Witzel-Behl will “very likely” be on that list.
A timeline provided by Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway December 26th indicates the issue stems from the discovery of a sealed courier bag with two sealed envelopes containing 125 unprocessed absentee ballots on November 12th. A second sealed courier bag containing a sealed envelope with 68 unprocessed absentee ballots was then discovered on December 3rd.
Despite the discovery of the first group of unprocessed ballots, the Wisconsin Election’s Commission certified the results of the election on November 29th. WEC was emailed by the city for guidance on the matter on December 18th, according to the provided timeline.
In January, WEC Attornery Angela O’Brien Sharpe determined an independent analysis confirmed reporting from the Madison clerk’s office that the uncounted ballots did not impact the outcome of any local or federal elections in November.
But the commissioners Friday contested the real matter at hand was the non-inclusion of the 193 votes from the final tally in November. “It’s been bolded where we say the unaccoutned ballots did not impact the result of any election. That’s not really what was important about this. What’s really important is that 193 ballots didn’t get counted,” noted Thomsen.
Friday’s meeting came one day after a lawsuit filed by the firm Law Forward on behalf of unidentified impacted voters in Madison.
“Every vote counts, and every vote must be counted. But our clients were disenfranchised through no fault of their own,” said Scott Thompson, Staff Counsel, Law Forward in the filing released Thursday. Our message today is clear: the right to vote must be protected. And when it is not, we’ll see you in court.”
The commission also plans to issue clear guidance to election officials thorughout Wisconsin regarding best practices for tabulating absentee ballots. It will be provided to clerks at the commission’s March 12th meeting.
A spokesperson for the Madison Clerk’s office issued the following statement:
“The City of Madison Clerk’s Office is fully cooperating with the Wisconsin Election Commission’s investigation. The City completely agrees with statements from Commissioners that every legal ballot needs to be counted accurately. The Clerk’s Office has already implemented new procedures and safeguards to ensure this never happens again. We appreciate any and all guidance from the WEC that could further strengthen the integrity of our elections. The City will also conduct its own internal review that may lead to further changes.”
The spokesperson further clarified ahead of the February primary, election workers and Chief Inspectors were trained on new checklists for processing absentee ballots. There are also new task lists procedures when closing the polls to double-check and triple-check that everything’s been processed. Additionally, the spokesperson said the Clerk’s office has implemented new procedures for how items are checked-in at the end of the Election Day.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE:
- Lawsuit filed against City of Madison over uncounted absentee ballots
- Wisconsin Elections Commission files open records requests concerning Madison’s uncounted ballots
- Wisconsin Elections Commission launches investigation regarding uncounted Madison absentee ballots
- 193 absentee ballots found not properly processed in Madison
