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Wisconsin elections officials find clerk broke laws over uncounted ballots

Wisconsin elections officials find clerk broke laws over uncounted ballots

Independent17-07-2025
Wisconsin elections officials declared Thursday that the former clerk of the state's capital city broke several laws related to not counting nearly 200 absentee ballots in the November presidential election, but they stopped short of recommending that criminal charges be brought.
The bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission voted 5-1 to accept a report finding that the former Madison clerk broke five election laws. But the investigation was not a criminal probe and the commission does not have the power to bring charges. The report does not recommend that prosecutors do so.
Charges could be brought by the Dane County attorney's office or the state Department of Justice.
Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne said his office had not received a referral, but if it did it would review it.
DOJ spokesperson Riley Vetterkind did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on whether it would be bringing charges.
No outcome of any race was affected by the missing ballots. Maribeth Witzel-Behl resigned as Madison city clerk in April amid investigations into the missing ballots.
Wisconsin Elections Commission Chair Ann Jacobs, a Democrat, called the incident a 'rather shocking dereliction of just ordinary responsibility."
Republican Commissioner Bob Spindell, who cast the lone vote against accepting the report, said he blamed the problem on an extremely complicated system in the clerk's office and poor management.
'It's not something I think the clerk should be crucified for,' he said.
The investigation determined that two bags of uncounted absentee ballots likely never made it to the poll sites where they should have been counted.
'There was just no tracking of these absentee ballots," Jacobs said.
The clerk's office did not notify the Wisconsin Elections Commission of the oversight until Dec. 18, almost a month and a half after the election and well after results were certified on Nov. 29.
The elections commission report concluded that the former clerk broke state law for failing to properly supervise an election; not providing the most recent current registration information for pollbooks in two wards; improperly handing the return of absentee ballots; not properly canvassing the returns as it pertained to the 193 uncounted ballots; and failing to provide sufficient information for the municipal board of canvassers to do its work.
The report blamed a 'confluence of errors' and said that Madison did not have procedures in place to track the number of absentee ballots going to a polling place. It also said there was a 'complete lack of leadership' in the clerk's office.
'These are mistakes that could have been avoided," said Republican commissioner Don Millis.
Madison city attorney and interim clerk Michael Haas said the city did not contest the findings of the report.
'The most important asset we have is the trust of the voters and that requires complete transparency and open coordination with partners when mistakes happen,' Haas said in testimony submitted to the commission. 'That did not happen in this case.'
Madison has already implemented numerous safeguards and procedures that were in place for elections earlier this year to ensure that all eligible absentee ballots are accounted for, Haas said.
The recommendations in the report for further actions exceed what is required under state law and are not within the authority of the commission to order, Hass testified. He urged the commission to delay a vote.
The commission voted unanimously to give Madison until Aug. 7 to respond before voting a week later on whether to order additional steps to be taken.
Four voters whose ballots weren't counted have filed claims for $175,000 each, the first step toward a class-action lawsuit. Their attorney attended Thursday's hearing but did not testify.
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The US cities left behind as Trump ends key police accountability reforms
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The US cities left behind as Trump ends key police accountability reforms

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timean hour ago

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Kamala Harris' former advisor left flustered after being asked simple question about economy

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Kimmel, I am the martyr. There's only room for one on this cross. And the view is fantastic from up here. I can see your house!' He also said that cancellation meant he could finally admit what he felt about the president. In contrast to his often over-the-top anti-Trump monologues, he dryly, quietly said: 'I don't care for him. Doesn't seem to have the skill set to be president. Just not a good fit, that's all.' He addressed his bosses at CBS - who he said 'have always been great partners' - before talking about Paramount's decision to cancel the show which he took over from David Letterman in 2015. 'How could it be a purely financial decision if The Late Show's is number one in ratings? A lot of folks are asking that question, mainly my staff's parents and spouses.' 'I could see us losing $24 million but where would Paramount have possibly spent the other $16 million, oh...' he quipped, naming the amount the company settled with Trump for over his 60 Minutes lawsuit. He went back to bashing Trump and the recent news accusing him of writing a 'bawdy' letter to Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday. 'I'll have more to say about all this after the commercial break. The only other story is a small one... the president is buddies with a pedophile.' Puck journalist Matthew Belloni revealed Colbert's 'lack of profitability ' Friday, hours after CNN first broke the news that the show was canceled because it was in the red. Belloni outlined how The Late Show - whose cancellation was announced last Thursday - costs $100m a year to produce, with Colbert, 61, getting paid between $15 million and $20 million a year to host. Colbert beats ABC and NBC rivals Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon in the ratings, but that still wasn't enough to save him. Late night shows have slumped in profitability in recent years as viewers shun the format in favor of streaming services or watching content on their phones. Advertiser revenue has slumped sharply even in the last three years, Puck reported, making it harder to pull Colbert's show out of the red. Colbert was reported to be 'not angry, actually' about his cancellation and was chatting with his staff in a 'matter-of-fact' way before Thursday's show, Puck reported. Colbert, who will broadcast his final show in May 2026, was first informed his show was on the chopping block around July 4, it is claimed. Paramount Co-CEO George Cheeks made the decision, Puck reported. He then went on vacation, giving bosses at CBS time to plot behind his back, CNN reported. He moved to share it as quickly as possible so that his staff would not learn of their impending unemployment via leaks to the press. All three major late night hosts - Colbert, Kimmel and Fallon - have become notorious for their regular rants about President Trump, which many viewers have complained are boring and off-putting. But Belloni said he didn't believe the famously anti-MAGA Colbert was axed to appease Donald Trump, who recently won a $15 million payout from CBS after suing them over a 60 Minutes interview with Harris he said was deceptively edited. The axing of Colbert has delighted Trump, who posted about it on his TruthSocial network earlier today. Colbert's ouster could also make it easier for CBS parent company Paramount's efforts to merge with media company Skydance in a deal that must be approved by Trump's Federal Communications Commission. The Late Show launched in 1993 under David Letterman to compete with longtime late night juggernaut The Tonight Show. Colbert took over from Letterman in 2015 after his retirement. More than three decades later, CBS's entry into the late night sphere sits at the top, with second-best Jimmy Kimmel Live! raking in an average of 1.772 million viewers. Colbert, by comparison, collects an average of 2.417 million. Colbert - who once played a conservative character on Comedy Central's satirical late night program The Colbert Report - often aired jokes at the conservative's expense. Trump celebrated the news of the show's cancellation as a result. 'I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings,' he wrote in a Friday Truth Social post. 'I hear Jimmy Kimmel is next. Has even less talent than Colbert,' he added, before talking up right-wing Fox News star Greg Gutfeld. '[He's] better than all of them combined, including the Moron on NBC who ruined the once great Tonight Show,' Trump added, referring to Jimmy Fallon.

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