MILWAUKEE, Wis. — The Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) will revise a letter to Milwaukee election officials as the state continues reviewing an error that delayed the reporting of the city’s August 11 primary results.
During a meeting Monday, commissioners discussed Milwaukee Election Commission (MEC) Executive Director Paulina Gutiérrez’s six-page response explaining what happened on primary night and outlining changes planned before the November election.
Milwaukee says election workers mistakenly downloaded audit logs instead of election result files from five of the nine tabulators used to count absentee ballots. The mistake delayed the public reporting of Milwaukee’s results by about an hour, but the MEC says it did not affect the security, tabulation or accuracy of the results.
The city says its updating written procedures, adding additional verification during the download process and planning to demonstrate that process during public testing before November’s general election.
Commissioners agreed Monday to revise an earlier draft letter to acknowledge Milwaukee’s response while noting they are still waiting for additional records.
“We look forward to seeing the rest of it,” said Commissioner Ann Jacobs, referring to records Milwaukee has promised to release.
The MEC says it plans to publicly release audit logs, election forms and precinct reports from Central Count by Friday, September 4.
WEC plans to review the matter again after those records are released.
