Wisconsin Clerk Suspended Over 200 Uncounted Ballots | EUROtoday

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The mayor of Wisconsin’s capital metropolis stated Wednesday that she has positioned the municipal clerk on go away as investigators work to find out how she did not depend nearly 200 absentee ballots within the November election.

Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway stated in an announcement that the town has launched an investigation and that she wanted to droop City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl to keep up public confidence within the clerk’s workplace. The mayor added that the town will spare no expense to make sure each vote is counted heading into the swing state’s spring election. The state Elections Commission is also investigating whether or not Witzel-Behl violated any state legal guidelines or abused her discretion.

The uncounted ballots didn’t change the outcomes of any races however 4 Madison voters whose ballots weren’t counted filed claims final week for $175,000 every from the town and Dane County, step one towards initiating a lawsuit.

The mayor’s spokesperson, Dylan Brogan, stated Witzel-Behl will proceed to be paid throughout her suspension. She makes $152,300 yearly. No itemizing for her private contact info could possibly be instantly discovered.

The suspension comes with the state’s April 1 normal election simply weeks away. The highest-profile race is between conservative Brad Schimel and liberal Susan Crawford for an open state Supreme Court seat. The consequence will decide the ideological steadiness of the court docket because it ponders instances involving abortion, the energy of public sector unions, voting guidelines and congressional district boundaries. Early voting begins subsequent week.

Rhodes-Conway stated in her assertion that she has appointed City Attorney Michael Haas as interim metropolis clerk and that she expects he’ll make sure the election runs easily in Madison. Haas has beforehand labored as administrator and lawyer for the state elections fee.

Aides for Democratic and Republican legislative leaders didn’t instantly reply to messages Wednesday inquiring about whether or not Witzel-Behl’s suspension has affected their confidence in how the town will conduct the spring election.

According to fee investigators, Wiztel-Behl’s workplace found 67 unprocessed absentee ballots in a courier bag that had been positioned in a safety cart. The discovery got here on Nov. 12, seven days after the election, whereas county staff had been conducting the official depend of election outcomes.

Witzel-Behl stated she instructed two staff to inform the elections fee, however neither did. A 3rd metropolis employee visited the Dane County Clerk’s Office to tell officers there, however that worker stated the county didn’t need the ballots for the depend, often known as a canvass. Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell has stated he knew nothing of the uncounted ballots till they had been reported within the media.

Witzel-Behl’s workplace discovered one other 125 uncounted absentee ballots in a sealed courier bag in a provide tote on Dec. 2. According to fee investigators, Witzel-Behl stated she didn’t inform county canvassers as a result of the canvass was completed. She added that primarily based on the county’s response to the Nov. 12 discovery she didn’t assume the county would have an interest.

The fee wasn’t notified of both discovery till Dec. 18. Witzel-Behl instructed investigators that the staff she requested to inform the fee waited till reconciliation was accomplished. That’s a routine course of by which ballot staff and elections officers guarantee an election’s accuracy, together with checking the variety of ballots issued on the polls towards the variety of voters. She couldn’t clarify why she didn’t contact county officers or the elections fee herself, in response to the investigators.

On Wednesday afternoon the elections fee unanimously permitted sending a memo to clerks across the state outlining greatest practices for making certain all ballots get counted within the spring election.

The suggestions embody documenting election day incidents; ensuring all supplies are returned from polling websites; checking voting gear poll bins for something which may have been missed; and instantly reporting any errors to county officers and the fee.

Commission Chair Ann Jacobs famous that every one the suggestions are already a part of the panel’s election day manuals however stated the rules put them multi functional place.