Milwaukee asks for city employees to assist with absentee ballot recounting
Updated: 7:10 p.m. on Nov. 5, 2024
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The city of Milwaukee has put out a call to city employees to help at central ballot count, the Baird Center, after thousands of ballots needed to be recounted on Election Day.
Health department officials and firefighters answered the call -- about 30-40 people.
There is no word on how much time that will shave off the final count.
Published: 4:21 p.m. on Nov. 5, 2024
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Absentee ballots are being counted in Milwaukee, it's a process that will continue well into the late evening hours. At the Baird Center, the site of Milwaukee's central count headquarters, election workers have been counting since 9 a.m. Tuesday morning.
Officials tell CBS 58 the processing and counting of votes will likely continue well past midnight.
Unlike some other states, in Wisconsin, absentee ballots cannot be opened and counted until Election Day.
CBS 58 learned about an issue involving the ballot stickers and the glass doors on some of the machines, but we were told once it was brought to the attention of election officials, it was resolved quickly with an observer from both the Republican and Democratic party walking to each machine to ensure it was taken care of.
"The machines were still running. I didn't really see anything nefarious. It was just probably human error at this point in time," said Hilario Deleon, chairman for the Republican Party of Milwaukee County. "Very thorough process. I want to thank all the people who have joined us here today at central count to make sure that the voices of Milwaukeeans from all neighborhoods across the city are heard."
No other major issues have been reported at this time. As of 4:30 p.m., we know more than 106,000 absentee ballots have been returned. At last check, more than 4,000 were counted.