(This story was updated to add new information.)
The Green Bay City Clerk’s Office mailed duplicate absentee ballots to some voters ahead of the Aug. 11 primary election due to what city officials said was a printing error, a repeat snafu from several months earlier.
In a June 28 news release, city communications director Michael Bergman said some voters across eight wards, largely located on the city’s west side, may have gotten two absentee ballots. Affected were Wards 11a, 12a, 37a, 44, 45, 46, 47, and part of Ward 43, representing 15% of the city’s 52 total wards. City staff had mailed out over 5,000 absentee ballots by the end of the day June 25, and became aware of the duplication on June 27, according to Bergman.
“I regret the printing error occurred,” city clerk Celestine Jeffreys said in the news release. “I assure our voters that only one ballot per eligible voter will be tabulated. I encourage any voter with questions to contact our office directly.”
The news release did not mention how many voters were mailed duplicated ballots, how the duplication occurred, how the clerk’s office found out about the replications, or if previously announced safeguards to prevent duplications were implemented.
Jeffreys deferred clarifying questions from the Green Bay Press-Gazette to Bergman.
Bergman, in a statement to the Press-Gazette, said: “The City has provided all available information in yesterday’s statement. There will be no interview availability on this. As we continue to investigate the cause of the printing error, we will provide additional details as they become available.”
The duplication was the second time that Jeffreys’ office mailed multiple absentee ballots to voters this year.
In April, duplication by the clerk’s office caused 152 voters in the city to get several absentee ballots, which the clerk’s office also attributed to a printing error. Jefferys was accused by the Theresa Sipes, a member of the Republican Party of Brown County, of violating election law in an election complaint to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. The elections commission has not yet judged on the matter.
At the time, Bergman issued a statement saying the clerk’s office would not allow both replicated ballots to be cast. In cases where voters returned both ballots, the office would request the voter spoil the ballots, then get a new one. Wisconsin Election Commission chairwoman Ann Jacobs weighed in at the time in a series of posts to X, formerly Twitter, to say that the duplicates were “ordinary human error” though it was unclear to her how the replications happened.
Jeffreys said, during an April 7 news conference, that the duplications happened because staff printed two copies of a sheet of labels. She said to prevent the situation from happening again, city staff would mark every sheet to note printing is done.
It was unclear if the announced guardrails were implemented.
Jesse Lin is a reporter covering the community of Green Bay and its surroundings, as well as politics in northeastern Wisconsin. He also writes a weekly column answering reader questions about Green Bay. Contact and send him questions at 920-834-4250 or jlin@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay repeats duplicate ballot error ahead of August election
Reporting by Jesse Lin, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
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By Jesse Lin, Green Bay Press-Gazette | USA TODAY Network
