'Deeply unsettling': Milwaukee election officials say 269 absentee ballots not delivered by USPS in time to be counted in Tuesday's election

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Hundreds of Milwaukee voters did not have their absentee ballots counted this week after the US Postal Service did not deliver them in time.

On Thursday, April 9, city election officials said they're concerned, and so far, have not gotten an explanation for how it happened.

There are several factors in play, including restrictive state election laws and nationwide delays in mail delivery.

The bottom line is 269 absentee ballots were not counted Tuesday, April 7, Election Day.

Paulina Gutiérrez is the executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission. She said at a news conference, "This is deeply unsettling what we're finding today."

Gutiérrez said it's common for a few ballots to come in the day after an election, but not the 269 that were delivered Wednesday with the regular mail.

Wisconsin has an "in-hand" law: absentee ballots are only counted if they're in the hands of election officials before the polls close. The date a ballot was mailed does not matter; the date it was postmarked does not matter.

For that reason, the Milwaukee Election Commission communicates with the Postal Service throughout election days.

That ensures that when absentee ballots are received, they are picked up or delivered to the election commission before the 8:00 pm deadline.

This Tuesday, the only delivery was in the morning, 20 ballots.

Gutiérrez said usually there are more throughout the day. "We have those conversations throughout the day. And we called up until the post office closed and they had reported to us there were no more ballots."

Gutiérrez was told USPS is investigating, but so far has heard nothing further about how it happened.

Senator Tammy Baldwin is demanding answers from the Postal Service. Just this week, Baldwin called attention to mail delays that impact bill paying, medications, and voting.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission is monitoring the situation in Milwaukee. Spokesperson Emilee Miklas told us, "At this time, we are not aware of other delays, but we encourage any municipality to reach out to us."

WEC reminds voters absentee ballots do not have to be mailed; they can be dropped off at clerk’s offices, drop boxes, or at polling places on election day.

Right now, the city of Milwaukee has 15 drop boxes available. Gutiérrez said they're looking into getting more to be even more accessible.

But that won't help the 269 voters this week, who, unbeknownst to them, were unable to participate in the democratic process.

Gutiérrez said, "We have voters here who followed the rules and did everything they were supposed to do. Their ballot, their vote, did not count. That is deeply unsettling."

The 269 absentee ballots that were delivered late were all mailed in.

All ballots that voters put in drop boxes were counted Tuesday.

We reached out to the US Postal Service multiple times for more information but they have not yet responded.