Missing Madison ballots ‘unconscionable’ and a ‘profound failure,’ Wisconsin Elections Commission finds

A Madison clerk committed “profound failure” that resulted in nearly 200 ballots going uncounted in last November’s election, and she displayed an “astonishing” lack of urgency in reporting and rectifying her mistakes, an investigation by the Wisconsin Elections Commission has found.

In a scathing report, a draft of which was released Wednesday, the commission found that former City of Madison Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl oversaw a range of errors that resulted in 193 ballots going uncounted in the closely contested matchup between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Kamala Harris.

“These actions resulted in nearly 200 lawful voters’ votes going uncounted – an unconscionable result,” reads the report, which was coauthored by WEC Chair Ann Jacobs, a Democrat, and Commissioner Don Millis, a Republican. “This profound failure undermines public confidence in elections.”

Those actions included using insecure transport methods, not properly training poll workers, setting up confusing processes for counting absentee votes, and not alerting the commission after the missing ballots were discovered weeks after the election had been certified, the report states.

“The lack of action by the City Clerk with regard to the found ballots is astonishing. She demonstrated no urgency, let alone interest, in including those votes in the election tally,” the investigation summary states. “That would have required the City Clerk to take the urgent action that the situation demanded. Instead, she went on vacation and, per her testimony, never inquired about them again until mid-December.”

The investigation launched in January after officials determined that the missing 193 ballots would not have changed the outcome of any race on the ballot. Witzel-Behl was placed on leave and resigned in April.

She also faced local discipline. Madison investigators found that Witzel-Behl had made mistakes, including mishandling courier bags and carrier envelopes, but not broken the law.

In its report, WEC found that Witzel-Behl indeed “took actions that were contrary to law” through poor training of election inspectors, improper absentee ballot handling, and abdicating post-election duties by going on vacation.

It also found that Witzel-Behl did not take accountability for her office, describing a “complete lack of leadership.”

“It was the job of the City Clerk to immediately take action once notified about the found ballots, and she did nothing. It was the responsibility of the Deputy Clerk to take action in her absence, and he did nothing,” the report states.

“These ballots were treated as unimportant and a reconciliation nuisance, rather than as the essential part of our democracy they represent,” the report states.

The report also contains an order to the city of Madison that they will put new processes in place well ahead of the Wisconsin’s next statewide election in February of 2026.

Those new processes must include determining which city employee is responsible for each required task of election administration, developing a new timeline for printing poll books to count absentee ballots, and developing new processes for counting and transporting ballots between wards.

In a statement reacting to the investigation, City Attorney and Acting Clerk Michael Haas thanked the WEC.

“We are currently reviewing WEC’s report and hope that it can provide lessons that we and other Wisconsin clerks can learn to prevent similar errors in the future,” Hass said.

The city of Madison said that during elections in 2025, the clerk’s office implemented additional safeguards and procedures to ensure all eligible absentee ballots were accounted for.

The full Wisconsin Elections Commission will be briefed on the results of the investigation at its meeting Thursday, July 17.