MILWAUKEE — A human error at Milwaukee Central Count delayed roughly 28,000 absentee ballot results for hours Tuesday night, sparking criticism, calls for an investigation and debate over Wisconsin’s election process.
WATCH: Milwaukee vote delay fuels debate over election procedures
Milwaukee election officials say workers accidentally uploaded audit logs instead of actual vote totals from five of nine flash drives used during absentee ballot processing.
The mistake delayed Milwaukee’s absentee ballot count while workers returned to Central Count, downloaded the correct files and uploaded the results to Milwaukee County.
Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Paulina Gutierrez described the issue as human error.
“We had a human error,” Gutierrez said Tuesday night. “The wrong button was pressed.”
Gutierrez said the issue involved election workers downloading system audit logs — records generated by election equipment — instead of the files containing actual vote totals.
Officials said the ballots themselves were never compromised and stressed that multiple safeguards allowed workers to identify and correct the issue.
“We have all of the paper ballots. We have the poll books. We have multiple layers,” Gutierrez said.
The delay immediately drew criticism from Wisconsin Elections Commission Vice Chair Bob Spindell, a former Milwaukee election commissioner.
“Again, problems,” Spindell said. “There were problems in 2024. There’s problems last night, and the explanation that I heard did not satisfy.”
Spindell said he believes Tuesday night’s issue deserves a formal review.
“I think it’s important that we have an investigation now,” Spindell said.
Others who worked inside Central Count Tuesday night pushed back on suggestions the issue involved election fraud or compromised ballots.
Dave Weingrod, who worked at Central Count during the election, said the process includes multiple safeguards and checks designed to catch errors.
“It reinforces my trust because people were very serious about getting it right,” Weingrod said.
Weingrod also said Wisconsin law creates added pressure on large absentee ballot operations because absentee ballots cannot be tabulated before Election Day.
“Well, I think the big change for Central Count would be to start the process earlier,” Weingrod said.
He would like to see those changes come from the state legislature.
Spindell disagreed with fully processing absentee ballots before Election Day but said some preparation work ahead of time could be appropriate.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission declined an on-camera interview but released a statement emphasizing confidence in Wisconsin’s election system.
“Wisconsin elections are safe, secure, and accurate due to multiple checks and balances,” spokesperson Emilee Miklas said in a statement. “While human mistake can happen — Wisconsin’s election system, which includes layers of oversight at the local and state level, ensures things are caught and corrected.”
Milwaukee election officials say they will review Tuesday night’s delay and procedures surrounding the upload error as part of the city’s post-election review process.
TMJ4 also reached out to Mayor Cavalier Johnson but a spokesperson declined an on-camera interview due to scheduling.
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