The Wisconsin Elections Commission voted Monday to rewrite its letter to Milwaukee election officials after the city delayed unofficial primary results on Aug. 11 by downloading the wrong files from ballot tabulators.
Commissioners reviewed a six-page response from Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Paulina Gutiérrez. She said workers at central count mistakenly copied audit logs instead of election-result files from five of nine high-speed tabulators used to process 27,187 absentee ballots. The error held up public reporting of Milwaukee’s unofficial results by about an hour. Gutiérrez said it did not change the security, tabulation, or accuracy of the votes. The city accepted responsibility. Reports have identified Deputy Director Maricha Harris as the official who selected the wrong files.
The state commission had drafted a letter pressing Milwaukee for more transparency, citing the city’s high-profile role in national election scrutiny. After receiving Gutiérrez’s explanation, commissioners agreed to revise that draft so it acknowledges Milwaukee’s response while noting they still want more documents. “We look forward to seeing the rest of it,” Commissioner Ann Jacobs said.
Milwaukee said it will post audit logs, election forms, and precinct reports from central count by Friday, Sept. 4. Officials also said they are rewriting download procedures, adding extra verification, and plan to demonstrate the process during public testing before the November general election.
WEC said it will take the issue up again after those records are released. The November gubernatorial general election is Nov. 3.
