Wisconsin pol falsely says metropolis clerk lied about absentee ballots

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The mailing of about 2,200 duplicate absentee ballots in Wisconsin’s closely Democratic capital metropolis of Madison has led a Republican member of Congress to falsely counsel that the clerk was mendacity in regards to the presence of barcodes on the ballots themselves.

Ballots in Wisconsin don’t comprise barcodes. Envelopes that absentee ballots are returned in do comprise barcodes so the voter can observe their poll to make sure it was obtained. The barcodes additionally permit election officers to make sure that the identical voter doesn’t solid a poll in individual on Election Day.

An preliminary assertion on Monday from Madison Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl didn’t specify that it was the envelopes, not the ballots, that comprise the barcodes. The assertion posted on the clerk’s web site was later up to date to specify that the barcodes had been on the envelopes, not the ballots.

Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany, a robust Donald Trump supporter whose northern Wisconsin district doesn’t embody Madison, posted an image of an absentee poll on the social platform X to point out there was no barcode.

“My workplace has proof that there is no such thing as a barcode on the precise ballots,” Tiffany posted on Wednesday. “Here’s a image of the absentee ballots – NO BARCODE.”

He additionally known as for an investigation.

By Thursday morning his submit had greater than 1.6 million views.

Tiffany later took credit score for the clerk altering the wording on her preliminary assertion.

“Why do they hold enhancing their statements and press releases?” Tiffany posted.

Madison metropolis spokesperson Dylan Brogan stated Thursday that he altered the wording of the assertion for readability earlier than Tiffany questioned it by “parsing aside sentences.”

“The town routinely updates its web site to supply as a lot readability as doable,” Brogan stated.

He known as the mailing of duplicate absentee ballots “a easy mistake that we instantly rectified and it’ll haven’t any impression on the election.”

“There are safeguards in place,” Brogan stated. “The system labored.”

Ann Jacobs, the Democratic chair of the Wisconsin Elections Fee, rebuked Tiffany on X.

“I can’t inform if that is simply profound lack of information or the intentional farming of concern,” she posted. “Each, by the best way, are unhealthy.”

The clerk stated in her response to Tiffany that 2,215 duplicate ballots had been despatched earlier than the error was caught on Monday. No duplicate ballots have been returned, Witzel-Behl stated. As soon as a poll is obtained and the envelope barcode is scanned, if a second poll is returned it is not going to be counted, she stated.

“I’d merely word that elections are performed by people and sometimes human error happens,” she wrote to Tiffany. “When errors happen, we come clean with them, right them as quickly as doable, and are clear about them – exactly as we’ve got carried out right here.”

The dustup in battleground Wisconsin comes as there may be intense scrutiny over how elections are run, notably in swing states which might be more likely to determine the winner of the presidential election. Trump misplaced Wisconsin in 2020. Practically 4 years later, conspiracy theories surrounding the 2020 election and false claims of widespread fraud persist. Trump continues to insist, regardless of no proof of widespread fraud, that he gained that election as he seeks a return to the White Home.

President Joe Biden’s win over Trump in Wisconsin survived two recounts ordered by Trump, together with one involving town of Madison, an unbiased audit, a evaluation by a Republican regulation agency and quite a few lawsuits.

Wisconsin Watch is a nonprofit and nonpartisan newsroom. Subscribe to our publication to get our investigative tales and Friday information roundup. This story is printed in partnership with The Related Press.