‘This incident involved human error and involved no criminal conduct,’ the clerk’s office of Madison, Wisconsin, says.
The City of Madison has confirmed that more than 2,000 voters in Wisconsin’s capital city were sent duplicate absentee ballots, weeks before the November election.
“This was a mistake,” Madison city spokesperson Dylan Brogan said. “The clerk’s office moved to rectify it as quickly as possible.”
On Sept. 23, the City of Madison initially said that “around 2,000” duplicated ballots were sent to voters in the city, prompting concerns from Rep. Tom Tiffany (R-Wis.), who sent a letter to the city clerk demanding answers about how many duplicated ballots were sent out.
Responding to Tiffany’s letter, Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl released a statement on Sept. 25 confirming that 2,215 duplicate ballots were sent out in Madison, which has leaned heavily Democratic in recent presidential elections.
The error, she said, was disclosed by voters who received the ballots, prompting an immediate investigation by the city clerk’s office. No duplicate ballots have been returned, according to the city.
The sending out of the erroneous ballots was caused by a “simple data processing error made by one of the many dedicated, professional staff who work for the City, and as noted above the process has since been corrected to prevent a similar error from occurring,” Witzel-Behl said.
“It is clear that this incident involved human error and involved no criminal conduct, so there is no reason to contact law enforcement,” Witzel-Behl said, responding to Tiffany’s question about whether law enforcement was involved.
She said that “occasionally human errors” occur in elections and that the city’s staff works “incredibly hard to conduct elections in a professional, nonpartisan and fair manner and works to continually assess and improve” its processes. She then alluded to “attacks” targeting election officials that “seek to undermine the confidence of voters in … election results.”
In the 2020 presidential contest, election officials narrowly certified then-Democratic candidate Joe Biden as winner over President Donald Trump in the battleground state.
Two recount efforts were initiated across Wisconsin in the aftermath, including one involving Madison. Ultimately, the state certified Biden as the victor.
In his letter, Tiffany made reference to the 2020 election and alleged that Madison officials have a “history of controversial and legally dubious election practices,” adding that it’s “important” for the Wisconsin capital “to provide full transparency regarding how an ‘error’ of this magnitude was allowed to happen at such a pivotal time.”
“Voters deserve clear answers regarding the full scope of this blunder, how the city plans to restore public confidence in its ability to accurately administer the election, and assurances that those responsible are held accountable,” the lawmaker said.
On social media, Tiffany posted a letter, dated Sept. 26, to the clerk’s office saying that he rejects her explanation for the sending of duplicated ballots.
“An independent, third-party investigation is needed to restore public trust,” he wrote on X.
Brogan, the city spokesman, said the mistake occurred when two identical files were merged, resulting in the creation of a list with double the names and double the addresses. Up to 2,000 duplicate ballots in one ward were mailed late last week before the mistake was caught and corrected, Brogan said.
The clerk’s office has been contacting voters individually to notify them of the error and cautioning them to submit only one ballot, Brogan said. However, because the ballots have identical barcodes, if two ballots are submitted, only the first one scanned will be counted, Brogan said.
As of Sept. 23, Madison had sent 27,421 absentee ballots and none had been returned, according to the state elections commission. Brogan echoed what the city’s statement said in that none of the duplicate ballots had been returned since then.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.