This article has been updated to include a statement from the RNC about such an error.
Nearly 40,000 mail-in ballots will have to be recounted in Milwaukee after a tabulator error. The process will take hours.
Just hours into Election Day, election officials discovered an issue with a tabulator not being sealed. This resulted in all 13 of the machines involved being reset out of caution. Once the machines are reset, the ballots will be run through the machines.
🚨#BREAKING: The city of Milwaukee announced that it will recount approximately 30 to 40 thousand absentee ballots that have already been counted due to an issue with one tabulator not being sealed. As a precaution, the city will recount each ballot. pic.twitter.com/8km2TJwskA
— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) November 5, 2024
“The machines were still running. I didn't really see anything nefarious. It was just probably human error at this point in time," Hilario Deleon, chairman for the Republican Party of Milwaukee County. "Very thorough process. I want to thank all the people who have joined us here today at the central count to make sure that the voices of Milwaukeeans from all neighborhoods across the city are heard."
CBS58 reported that the issue involved the ballot stickers and the glass doors on some of the machines. However, an observer from the Republican and Democratic Parties examined the issue, and election officials took action to correct the problem.
Election workers at the Milwaukee central count headquarters have been counting ballots since 9 a.m. on Election Day. Officials said the re-processing and counting of votes will continue well past midnight.
BREAKING: Milwaukee, WI election officials announced that they are recounting 30,000 absentee ballots after discovering that the scanning machine door wasn't properly closed. pic.twitter.com/nmbgWMwtzj
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 5, 2024
This comes after the Republican National Committee announced that the Milwaukee Elections Commission to allow poll watchers. In the predominantly Democrat-heavy state, the left was trying to keep poll watchers out of the counting process, which is against the law.
On Tuesday night, RNC Chairman Michael Whatley and Co-Chair Lara Trump released a statement about the error. "Throughout the day we have been monitoring slow ballot counting in Milwaukee. Now, our legal team has learned that the counting took place in insecure conditions and the city now has to start over, wildly extending the counting timeline. 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. Anything less undermines voter confidence," they said.
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