Milwaukee has called in reinforcements from other parts of city government to help process ballots as it clears a backlog of 31,000 mail-in ballots.
Ballots are stacked on a table during central counting at the Baird Center, during the 2024 U.S. presidential election, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, November 5, 2024.
Vincent Alban/Reuters
About 40 city employees — including firefighters, health care workers, IT experts and librarians — are helping count mail-in ballots, according to a city official.
Mail-in ballots are being recompiled after a door on several tabulators was not properly sealed due to human error, the Milwaukee mayor’s office said.
As the count continued, some Republicans descended on the Baird Convention Center to ask how this error happened.
“It looks like a real waste,” Sen. Ron Johnson said.
Johnson said he showed up at the polling location to “ask questions” and “restore confidence” in the results. He believes the city is not prepared for elections.
Johnson was joined by GOP Chairman Brian Schimming, who summed up the incident in a few words: “You had a job.”
The Milwaukee Election Commission said earlier that the city “has no doubt about the integrity of the election.”
“However, in order to eliminate any doubt and to be fully transparent, the MEC has decided to restart the process of tabulating all ballots during the central count. This decision was made in consultation with Republican and Democratic officials “, the commission said.
