Sealing error on vote tabulation machines leads to delay in Milwaukee

A “human error” is leading to a delay in counting ballots in the city of Milwaukee.

Jeff Fleming, a spokesperson for Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, announced the problem Tuesday at 4 p.m. The issue revolves around a sealing error in the vote tabulation machines at Milwaukee’s central count facility. 

Paulina Gutiérrez, the executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, said the doors for the machines were not closed correctly.

“There were seals on the door, but because the door was not properly closed, some of the seals got loose,” Gutiérrez said during a press conference.

A statement from the Milwaukee Election Commission said each tabulator machine has a door, “that should have been locked and sealed.”

“It appears some doors were not fully secured by senior election officials,” the statement said.

Gutiérrez said she was made aware of the issue by an election observer. She notified representatives of the Democratic and Republican parties at the facility and then they reviewed the machines to make sure no tampering occurred.

She said the ballots were never in a “position to be touched or tampered with.”

“I know for a fact that these machines are highly secure, there was no tampering, we were able to confirm that,” Gutiérrez said. “But (in an) over abundance of caution, we are reprocessing.”

Fleming said all 13 tabulator machines at the central count facility will now be zeroed out. Over 30,000 absentee ballots that have already been run through the machines will be run through them again.

“The tabulating machines are now going to be reset, and the ballots that have already gone through the tabulating machine will be rerun through them,” Fleming said.

Ann Jacobs, chair of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, said the city is handling the problem appropriately.

“Rerunning is the absolute right call,” Jacobs said.

Gutiérrez didn’t have an estimate on when the results might be in. Earlier in the day, she estimated results for the city would be in between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. Wednesday morning.

“It’s going to be a late night,” Gutiérrez said. “I will always take safety, security and accuracy, over speed any day.”

Michael Whatley, the chair of the Republican National Committee, released a statement about the error. 

“This is an unacceptable example of incompetent election administration in a key swing state: voters deserve better and we are unambiguously calling on Milwaukee’s officials to do their jobs and count ballots quickly and effectively,” Whatley wrote in the statement. “Anything less undermines voter confidence.” 

Hilario Deleon, the chair of the Republican Party of Milwaukee County, said he doesn’t think there was any tampering with the machines. However, he said he was bothered that the error will lead to delays in results.

“Now it’s going to be more work for everyone, and we’re going to have to wait for the election results,” Deleon said. 

“Come on, we can do better,” he added.