Milwaukee election officials prepare for what's expected to be a busy day at Central Count
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- After delays and mistakes in August, Milwaukee election officials are working to make sure history doesn't repeat itself this Tuesday.
More than 58,000 absentee ballots need to be counted, this time at the Italian Community Center (ICC). It's expected to take several hours to process them.
Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Paulina Gutieerrez says they're hoping to be done by 1 a.m.
Around 130 volunteers will start counting at the ICC Tuesday at 7 a.m. Each ballot will be opened and verified, then processed through high-speed tabulation machines.
The results will then be downloaded to a secure data stick, which is where in August, a wrong button pushed on tabulators caused delays, as they had to be redownloaded on several machines.
Gutierrez stresses those came down to human error, not an issue with the system.
“Everything has a paper trail, everything that happens in a machine is connected right to a ballot," Gutierrez said. "So because we are humans, humans can make mistakes. That’s why there is multiple layers and levels and paper trails to ensure that the accuracy and security of the election isn’t tampered with."
Once the results are downloaded to a secure data stick, they'll be escorted by police to the Milwaukee County Courthouse.