Milwaukee County canvassers begin canvass after 11.22% turnout; county to expand voluntary ward audits

Milwaukee County canvassers began the official canvass of the spring primary after staff reported that 61,862 ballots were cast, representing an 11.22% turnout, county staff said.

The report, given by Ms. Holly, a Milwaukee County elections staff member, said the county had 1,078,000 registered voters and that the ballot total included contests such as the statewide superintendent race, an alderperson contest in the City of Milwaukee and a school board race in the Oak Creek-Franklin School District. "Total ballots cast is 61,862 for a total turnout of 11.22%," Ms. Holly said.

The canvassing board also agreed to expand its voluntary manual audit sample for this cycle. Ms. Holly said the commission will increase the number of wards selected for voluntary audit from three to five to raise the percentage of wards examined manually. The wards named for this round include City of Milwaukee Wards 14, 309 and 97 (central count), Wauwatosa Ward 24B (central count), a Ward 4 at a polling place in West Dallas (as recorded in the report), and City of Glendale Wards 4 and 10 (polling places). "We are going to go from 3 to 5 wards to kind of give us a higher percentage of wards that we will go over manually," Ms. Holly said.

Board members also agreed to revisit wards selected for the November general election that were not opened at that time. Ms. Holly said election staff were unable to open ballot bags from the November election because of an unresolved Senate race and a lack of timely concession from the losing party, and recommended completing the November audits now that the county is scheduling additional manual checks. "We didn't have an opportunity, because of the Senate race and not receiving a concession ... we weren't able to open any of the ballot bags. And so we would like to go back and revisit the November election for the wards that were previously selected to ensure that we complete that process," Ms. Holly said.

When asked whether the November revisit required formal board action, election counsel replied that it was part of the standard canvass operating procedure and did not require further action unless someone objected. The chairman noted no objection and directed staff to commence the canvass of the February primary and to stand in adjournment until the board reconvenes to certify results. "Okay. I have no objection. Great. With that, I think we can commence the canvas of the February primary election ... And then we can stand in adjournment until we reconvene to certify the results," the chairman said.

The board confirmed a quorum at the start of the meeting before hearing the report. No formal motions with recorded roll-call votes were taken on audit selection; members indicated assent verbally and staff proceeded with the canvass and audit plan as described by Ms. Holly.

The county did not provide additional detail in the meeting record about which of the earlier November wards correspond to City of Milwaukee polling places 104 and 343 (a possible transcription ambiguity), and staff said they would verify and return those specifics when completing the November audits.