MADISON, Wis. — An alarming discovery of nearly 200 absentee ballots that went uncounted in Wisconsin's liberal capital has prompted state election officials to launch a thorough investigation. This issue came to light following the November 5 election, raising concerns regarding the conduct of Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission voted unanimously to investigate whether Witzel-Behl failed to adhere to state laws or if there was an abuse of her discretion in handling the ballots. The committee expressed its concern that this issue was not communicated until late December, approximately six weeks after the election results had been certified by Commission Chair Ann Jacobs on November 29.

Despite the clerk’s office maintaining that the uncounted votes did not alter the outcome of any races or referendums, Jacobs deemed the oversight "so egregious," highlighting the necessity of understanding how such a misstep occurred to prevent future issues as the spring elections approach. “We are the final canvassers," Jacobs stated. "We are the final arbiters of votes in the state of Wisconsin and we need to know why those ballots weren’t included anywhere.”

In a communication with the Associated Press, Witzel-Behl conveyed her office's commitment to collaborating with the commission to uncover the circumstances surrounding the oversight and to implement preventive measures for upcoming elections. This incident follows a prior mishap in September when her office mistakenly sent out up to 2,000 duplicate absentee ballots, citing a processing error.

Documentation from the election commission revealed that the issue of the uncounted ballots was reported on December 18, when Witzel-Behl's staff discovered discrepancies in the number of absentee ballots recorded versus those counted across three city wards. An inquiry into the matter led to an unusual finding where, on November 12, 67 unprocessed ballots were located in a courier bag related to Ward 65, and another ballot from Ward 68. Further discrepancies were noted when 125 unprocessed ballots were found during the reconciliation of ballots in Ward 56 on December 3.

Though the memo provided by the clerk's office did not clarify the reasons behind these discrepancies, it indicated plans to "debrief these incidents and implement better processes." On December 26, Witzel-Behl's office announced it would send apology letters to each affected voter, aiming to address the fallout from this incident.

Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway also weighed in, stating that her office was kept in the dark until December 20 about the issues at hand. She stressed that despite the absence of impact on election results, such discrepancies were "unacceptable" and her office would review election procedures moving forward.

Wisconsin, often considered a battleground state, showed Republican Donald Trump defeating Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris by roughly 29,000 votes in the previous election. While Harris received a notable 75% of the vote in Madison and neighboring Dane County, this incident further complicates the state's electoral integrity leading into future elections.

This report has been updated to correct the spelling of Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl’s last name.