WAUWATOSA NEWS

Wauwatosa clerk found 58 unopened absentee ballots from the primary election. However, the results of the race remained the same after count

Evan Casey
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Wauwatosa City Clerk Steven Braatz hands unopened absentee ballots to canvassers to begin counting on Thursday at City Hall. The clerk’s office on Monday found 58 unopened and lawfully cast ballots from the Feb. 15 primary election in a vault.

Two candidates for alderperson in Wauwatosa are thankful a case of human error by the Wauwatosa Clerk's Office didn't change the results of the primary election.

The clerk's office on Monday found 58 unopened and lawfully cast absentee ballots in a vault in the office, said City Clerk Steve Braatz.

"Staff inadvertently did not process ballots from one of the bins that we use to store, which resulted in these ballots not being delivered on election night to be counted," Braatz said during a news conference Thursday. 

There were 26 uncounted ballots in the District 3 aldermanic race and 32 in the District 8 race.

Braatz, who was appointed clerk by the Wauwatosa Common Council in May, quickly contacted the Wisconsin Elections Commission and the city’s attorney office after he learned of the error. 

"We have followed the appropriate next steps per state law to ensure every lawful vote counts," Braatz said.

Thursday morning, the board of canvassers met to count the unopened ballots in an open meeting at Wauwatosa City Hall.

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Municipal board of canvassers count unopened ballots on Thursday at Wauwatosa City Hall. The clerk’s office on Monday found 58 unopened and lawfully cast ballots from the Feb. 15 primary election.

The count revealed the same two candidates who originally won the race for District 3 alderperson — Patricia Stone and Joe Makhlouf — will move forward to the spring election on April 5. 

This comes during a time in which some are scrutinizing how elections are overseen across the state. But Braatz blamed this issue on basic human error. 

Braatz said he plans to simplify the way the clerk's office stores ballots during election season. He also plans to add daily checkpoints for staff to ensure this doesn't happen again. 

The results could have changed who won the primary race for District 3 alderperson, as incumbent Tim Hanson originally needed just three more votes to beat Makhlouf.

But the new results now have Makhlouf beating Hanson by five votes. 

The new vote totals for the Feb. 15 District 3 primary election are:

  • Patricia Stone: 242
  • Joe Makhlouf: 231
  • Tim Hanson: 226

The unopened ballots were not enough to change the results for the District 8 alderperson race. 

The new vote totals for the District 8 primary election are: 

  • Melissa Dolan: 261
  • John Larry: 246
  • Jessica Free: 192

Candidates respond

Joseph Makhlouf speaks to media following the counting of recently discovered 58 unopened absentee ballots from the spring primary on Thursday at Wauwatosa City Hall. The outcome of the primary election remains the same with Makhlouf facing off with Patricia Stone in the general election in April.

Makhlouf learned of the issue Wednesday morning after receiving a call from Braatz. He said he was "stunned." 

"My question was, what took this long to find out," Makhlouf said. 

"You hear about some of these things, but I never believed this was going to happen in Tosa — and especially never believed it was going to happen to me," he said. 

He was thankful that he'd still be moving on after he watched the board count the ballots in person Thursday morning. 

But he did call for better quality assurance measures to be put in place so it doesn't happen again. 

"Mistakes do happen ... but there does have to be more accountability and making sure this doesn't happen to anyone else in the future," he said. "Having gone through it, I can tell you it's extraordinarily stressful, and I wouldn't want that to happen to anyone else." 

Stone said she was thankful that city staff corrected the error quickly. 

"I think at the end of the day, we all do have to realize, that in this case — and really a lot of cases involving government — they are operated by people, and people are not infallible," Stone said. 

Hanson again thanked both candidates who moved on in an email to a reporter Thursday. 

"I certainly was surprised when I learned yesterday about the uncounted ballots. I have confidence that the city will get this right in the end and appreciate their effort in doing so," Hanson wrote in the email.

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Evan Casey can be reached at 414-403-4391 or evan.casey@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter @ecaseymedia