Lawyer seeks subpoenas in Green Bay ballot probe

A lawyer representing the complainant in Green Bay’s duplicate ballot error objects to the city’s explanation of what happened.

In an Aug. 4 letter to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, attorney Nicholas Boerke asked the commission to exercise its subpoena powers to get a fuller explanation of what occurred.

Green Bay city attorney Lacey Cochart on July 31 sent the commission a six-page report that said city clerk Celestine Jeffreys had either failed to clip labels to sheets or reprinted an entire batch of labels without first talking to her staff ahead of the April 7 spring election, causing 152 voters to get duplicate absentee ballots. The report also explained a second duplication, ahead of the Aug. 11 primary election, as being because Jeffreys reprinted mailing labels she believed were missing.

Boerke’s letter, obtained by the Green Bay Press-Gazette, argued the city’s report was not detailed and contradictory to the point that the commission “cannot properly investigate” the two incidents.

He criticized city officials for giving two possibilities to explain the first duplication incident, saying “the city cannot say which [one] occurred.”

Boerke also said the city’s report did not detail how many ballots or voters were affected in the second incident. The city had previously disclosed that 152 voters were affected in the first duplication error. In the second instance, in June, officials have said that eight total wards were affected. No figures have been released for how many voters or ballots were impacted that second time.

“The submission is not satisfactory,” Boerke wrote.

Cochart declined a request for comment from the Press-Gazette. City officials have declined all requests for interviews on the matter.

Jeffreys, who’s been the subject of multiple election complaints, both unfounded and substantiated, has been on administrative leave since July 9 after the election commission decided to investigate the errors following a complaint filed by the Republican Party of Wisconsin. The City Council on July 21 appointed deputy city clerk Stacy Menke to fill Jeffrey’s position in the interim.

In the face of concerns brought by some Republicans that duplicated ballots could open up the possibility for election fraud, Jeffreys has defended her operations, saying the clerk’s office asked voters to spoil any extra ballots. City officials have said that no affected voter has been able to cast more than one ballot.

During an April 7 news conference, Jeffreys said the first duplication happened because staff printed two copies of a sheet of labels. She said to prevent the situation from happening again, city staff would mark every sheet to mark that printing was done.

In a later response to the elections commission, Jeffreys repeated that the clerk’s office would put measures in place to stop future duplications. Jeffreys wrote she would “ensure that all certificate labels documents are clearly marked to identify date of printing and date of completion” and that she “is exploring technological upgrades to help improve efficiency in printing certificate labels for absentee ballots.”

It remains unclear whether the safeguards were put in place before the second incident.

The city has given an explanation that Jeffreys was notified of the second duplication when a voter texted and emailed her on June 27. Its explanation to the commission said letters were sent to voters “whom the clerk determined may have received duplicate absentee ballots.”

The elections commission has asked that the city report by Aug. 14 its plans to keep ballot duplication from happening in the future.

Boerke asked in his letter that the commission go further and have Jeffreys provide an account of the two duplication errors and that city officials give the commission records, according to its subpoena powers.

The two reports requested from the city are expected to be presented during the City Council’s Aug. 18 meeting.