Madison ordered to fix errors after ballots go missing

The state’s elections commission ordered the City of Madison on Friday to make changes after it failed to count nearly 200 absentee ballots in the November 2024 election.

The uncounted ballots would not have changed the outcome of any elections, but the Wisconsin Elections Commission said the Madison City Clerk‘s office had “a confluence of errors” that led to the ballots to being overlooked.

The WEC ordered Madison to adapt several measures, including an internal plan documenting which city employees are responsible for which areas of election law and printing its poll books closer to election time.

In a statement, Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway accepted the commission’s actions.

“Along with the fresh perspective of a new clerk, we are undertaking a reorganization of the office focused on improving efficiency and accountability,” she said. “I’m confident that these steps will keep Madison at the forefront of election administration and voter turnout.”

Going forward, the commission ordered the poll books be printed an estimated one week before election day. The books help staff keep track of registered voters, including which voters have and have not returned their absentee ballots.

In November 2024, the commission said Madison printed its poll books three weeks before election day so many entries were missing watermarks saying, “absentee returned.” The commission said those watermarks could have alerted officials that the ballots had not been counted.

The WEC was not notified about the missing ballots until Dec. 18, 2004, — more than six weeks after the election. Former clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl found out Nov. 12 that some ballots were not counted when election workers found a sealed envelope inside a sealed bag that Madison uses to store and transport absentee ballots. Post-election canvassing was still going on, which means those ballots could still have been counted if the clerk or other elections staff had decided to take action.

Witzel-Behl did not act, according to the commission. Staff later discovered more sealed bags with uncounted ballots on Dec. 2, while Witzel-Behl was out of the office taking a staycation. No one in the clerk’s office took action until the commission was notified on Dec. 18.

Witzel-Behl resigned in April after being placed on leave. An internal city investigation found she breached her contract and violated multiple city policies by failing to properly supervise the elections.

City Attorney Mike Haas currently serves as the interim city clerk.