Nearly 200 absentee ballots from Madison, Wisconsin, were discovered uncounted nearly a month after November’s election, raising concerns about how the oversight happened and whether other ballots may also be missing.
City officials confirmed that 193 absentee ballots were overlooked at two polling locations on Election Day. These ballots were not processed or included in the certified election results, sparking questions about election management and transparency.
What Went Wrong?
The error appears to stem from procedural lapses at two polling sites. At a location near downtown Madison, poll workers failed to open two sealed carrier envelopes containing 125 absentee ballots. Meanwhile, at the Ward 65 polling site in the Regent neighborhood, poll workers overlooked a carrier envelope containing 68 absentee ballots, including one that had been mistakenly sent to the wrong polling station, as detailed in a report by Alexander Shur, a Votebeat reporter writing for Raw Story.
City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl explained that poll workers typically “triple-check” absentee ballots before counting, but in these cases, the process fell through.
“We do not know why these carrier envelopes were overlooked at the polls on Election Day,” she said.
The uncounted ballots were not discovered until weeks after Election Day. The first batch was identified on November 12, and another batch was found on December 3. However, the issue wasn’t reported to the mayor’s office or the Wisconsin Elections Commission until mid-December, leaving many wondering why it took so long for the problem to surface.
Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway expressed frustration with the delay. “This oversight is unacceptable and a significant departure from the high standards our residents expect,” she said in a statement.
Witzel-Behl noted that staff shortages and post-election vacations contributed to the slow response, acknowledging she should have acted more quickly.
Impact on Election Integrity
While officials insist that the uncounted ballots did not alter the results of any races, the incident highlights vulnerabilities in Madison’s election system. Unlike larger cities where absentee ballots are processed centrally, Madison sends absentee ballots to individual polling places, relying on poll workers to manage and track them.
Each polling site is supposed to verify the number of absentee ballots received, but the lack of a centralized tracking system allowed errors to slip through. The clerk’s office now plans to implement better tracking measures, including providing polling sites with detailed lists of absentee ballot carrier envelopes.
Broader Concerns
The discovery has raised a broader question: Could other ballots be missing and remain undiscovered?
Mayor Rhodes-Conway and the clerk’s office have pledged to investigate further and ensure such oversights don’t happen again. The city plans to notify affected voters of the error and conduct a full review of its election procedures.
“My office is committed to taking whatever corrective action is necessary to maintain a high standard of election integrity in Madison, and to provide ongoing transparency into that process,” the mayor said, according to Raw Story.
