Wisconsin Elections Commission completes investigation of uncounted ballots

The Wisconsin Elections Commission has completed its investigation into the City of Madison Clerk’s Office after nearly 200 ballots went uncounted during last November’s election. The Wisconsin Elections Commission in January began investigating the clerk’s office and then-City of Madison Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl after 193 ballots went uncounted. That amount was not enough to change the outcome of any race, however Witzel-Behl was placed on administrative leave and later resigned following the incident. Meeting materials shared online show the Wisconsin Elections Commission will discuss a proposed decision letter and order regarding the investigation during a meeting next week. A draft of that decision letter indicates that, Witzel-Behl acted contrary to the law by failing to properly train election inspectors, failing to notify the proper officials once she was made aware of the uncounted ballots, failing to provide “the most recent current” pollbooks to election inspectors, and failing to properly oversee election inspectors leading to the 193 absentee ballots not being canvassed. There is also an order to ensure these errors do not recoccur.