Battleground Wisconsin to Re-Count Tens of Thousands of Ballots After Observer Spots Tabulator Issue
In Milwaukee, the counting of absentee ballots has faced significant complications due to a mishap with tabulating machines. Officials have announced that around 30,000 absentee ballots will need to be recounted from scratch because several tabulators were not properly sealed, raising concerns over the integrity of the initial count. The Milwaukee GOP Chairman, Hilario Deleon, expressed that this incident should not have occurred, highlighting the seriousness of the situation.
As the recount processes began, it was reported that 13 tabulating machines needed adjustments due to human error, which officials stressed did not indicate any deliberate tampering. Spokesperson Jeff Fleming from the mayor’s office indicated that the recount would delay the final results by approximately one to three hours. Despite the concerning circumstances, GOP representatives noted that there appeared to be no malicious intent behind the mistakes. The focus remains on ensuring the accuracy of the ballot count amid the ongoing electoral scrutiny.
As if the tight, contested race for the swing state of Wisconsin needed more drama, it got it all the same.
Officials announced Tuesday that due to a mistake involving the machines tabulating absentee ballots, the entire process of counting them is going back to square one.
“It’s a huge red flag. It should not have happened,” Milwaukee GOP Chairman Hilario Deleon said, according to Wisconsin Right Now.
Republican elections observer Jefferson Davis said that “seals were broken or compromised. But some of them were clearly broken. Some of them, the door was open, which pushed the seal off the tabulators, but the seal was not cracked or ripped off.”
BREAKING: Milwaukee is going to recount every absentee ballot that had been counted because of this issue. They had already tabulated 30,000 ballots.
The count will go very late https://t.co/fqEzmHHnRt
— Alexander Shur (@AlexanderShur) November 5, 2024
“The count will go very late,” journalist Alexander Shur posted on X.
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That means about 30,000 absentee ballots will be retabulated at the city of Milwaukee’s central counting operation at the Baird Center.
The doors on 13 tabulating machines were not properly closed, according to WISN-TV.
“We are going to zero them all out again, 13 machines around, and then rerun the ballots that had already been processed,” Jeff Fleming of the Milwaukee mayor’s office said.
“It is going to extend the time that we will get the totals,” he said.
BREAKING: The city of Milwaukee is going to recount about 30,000 absentee ballots that had already been counted.
There was an issue with one tabulator not being sealed. Out of precaution, the city will recount each ballot. A long night just got longer
— A.J. Bayatpour (@AJBayatpour) November 5, 2024
Fleming said the mistake was a human error and did not involve any equipment.
“We don’t want any questions about the accuracy about the results,” Fleming said. “We’re going to make sure that they are run correctly.”
“It’s just out of an abundance of caution. We have no reason to believe that there was any compromise to any of the machines,” Fleming said, according to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.
“But because they were not fully sealed — human error — and not fully sealed, we are going to zero them all out again … and then re-run the balance that had already been processed,” he said.
Before the error, officials had been projecting that a final total for Milwaukee’s absentee ballots would not be ready until early Wednesday.
The Journal-Sentinel quoted Fleming as saying that the delay due to the error could be between one and three hours.
A representative of the GOP said there is no reason to think the mistake was part of any plot to interfere with the election.
“I didn’t really see anything nefarious. It was just probably human error at this point in time,” Deleon said, according to WDJT-TV.
“Very thorough process. I want to thank all the people who have joined us here today at central count to make sure that the voices of Milwaukeeans from all neighborhoods across the city are heard,” he said.
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