Assembly Campaigns and Elections Chair Scott Krug says he will push next session to allow local officials to process absentee ballots ahead of an election, perhaps even as soon as they’re received.
Krug, R-Nekoosa, backed legislation this session that sought to allow clerks to begin processing absentee ballots the day before an election. Under current law, clerks can’t begin processing absentee ballots until polls open.
After issues at Milwaukee’s central count and other communities that took until Wednesday to report results, Krug said he wants to have a conversation about moving to a Florida-style system. That state allows clerks to process absentee ballots as soon as they’re received. Florida reported its presidential results yesterday within hours of the polls closing.
“Everyone knows they went from hanging chads to the best in the country,” Krug said, referencing the 2000 election in Florida. “Let’s just replicate what works.”
Milwaukee’s central count experienced delays yesterday after election workers discovered tabulators hadn’t been properly sealed. The city decided to start the process over to count some 31,000 ballots that had already been run through the machines to ensure there were no questions about the validity of the count.
GOP U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, who went to Milwaukee’s central count after the error was discovered, said the city “obviously wasn’t” ready for Election Day, calling it “sloppy.”
Krug said had an early processing been in place, Milwaukee would’ve discovered the issue well ahead of Election Day. He backed legislation this session that sought to make the change, and it cleared the Assembly. But Senate Republicans declined to take up the bill.
Milwaukee wasn’t the only place that experienced delays with reporting central count results.
Freshman Dem state Rep. Lori Palmeri didn’t declare victory until late Wednesday morning after final results from Oshkosh’s central count were added to her totals. She was down to Republican Tim Paterson by nearly 900 votes in unofficial returns with 64% of precincts reporting, according to The Associated Press. Once Oshkosh’s central count numbers were added in, Palmeri jumped to 52.7% of the vote with 99% of precincts in. That’s in line with the district’s predicted top-of-the-ticket performance. Longtime GOP redistricting consultant Joe Handrick rated it a 54% Dem seat after the new maps were put in place.
