Results in after 'human error' delays vote count in Milwaukee
Updated: 1:18 a.m. on Aug. 12, 2026
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Voting results are now in after "human error" caused a delay in Milwaukee Tuesday night into early Wednesday morning.
In an update in the early morning hours Wednesday, Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson announced the voting results put David Crowley at a total of 65,131 votes, coming to 43.04%. Francesca Hong finished with 62,739 votes, coming to 41.46%.
When asked about the error that occurred Tuesday night, Christenson said:
"Well that happens, you know, the City of Milwaukee is under a lot of scrutiny always, and essentially, human error happens, and I think we all should just take note that these things happen, you know, and at the end of the day, what's important is that we're transparent, that the results are secure, and that we're open and honest, and that's what the City of Milwaukee elections director did -- she came up here and she explained it, went back, got the results, brought them back to us, and we got everything right, and that's what's most important."
Updated: 12:13 a.m. on Aug. 12, 2026
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Vote counting in Milwaukee was stalled after issues were discovered late Tuesday night, Aug. 11. Paulina Gutierrez, the executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, said audit logs from five machines were downloaded instead of the actual results. Gutierrez said the issue was caused by "human error."
Now, workers need to return to those machines and make sure the results are downloaded properly.
Gutierrez said approximately 15,000 ballots are yet to be counted.
Published: 4 p.m. on Aug. 11, 2026
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — Workers at Milwaukee's Central Count worked to tally thousands of absentee ballots Tuesday, in Wisconsin's partisan primary election.
Tallying began early, and the Milwaukee Election Commission (MEC) says it was a busy but smooth day overall.
Workers downloaded votes onto a flash drive that was taken to the Milwaukee County Courthouse to be securely uploaded.
One hundred workers were on site all day, counting more than 26,000 absentee ballots that were returned.
Paulina Gutierrez, the executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, says there was a low turnout Tuesday, especially in comparison to the August 2022 primary for governor.
"Across the board, we are seeing pretty low turnout with this election," Gutierrez said. "I was just looking at August 2022 election; it was about 26% turnout. Total was 73,000 ballots."
They also implemented a new system with bins, so that once a ballot was counted, it did not move again.
