Wisconsin Elections Commission must hold the City of Milwaukee Accountable
MILWAUKEE, WISC.—With the support of the Center for Election Confidence (CEC), Milwaukee election observer Justin Gavery filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) alleging serious violations of Wisconsin election law by the Milwaukee Election Commission (MEC) during the August 11 primary election.
The complaint alleges a lack of bipartisan control, which directly resulted in audit log files, not vote totals, being transmitted on Election Night; a concerted effort to block election observers from viewing areas where ballots were handled, including replacing windows with walls to prevent observation; and a failure to notice a meeting of the municipal board of absentee ballot canvassers or the pre-election public test of tabulating equipment.
“The Wisconsin Elections Commission must step in and finally hold the City of Milwaukee accountable,” said attorney Nicholas J. Boerke of Chalmers, Adams, Backer & Wallen, who represents Mr. Gavery. “It is quite concerning that Milwaukee’s long history of election administration failures has continued without substantive reform or change. The voters of Milwaukee deserve better.”
In a recent letter to WEC, Milwaukee officials confirmed that MEC Deputy Director, Maricha Harris, selected, downloaded, and transmitted the wrong files five times—despite having a written copy of MEC’s election procedures manual on hand. Further, Mr. Gavery alleges that Ms. Harris personally took these actions without the presence of an election official of another party, a serious violation of law.
“Downloading audit logs instead of vote totals five times in a single night—when the written procedures manual is right there—points to a concerning gap in training and quality control, not a one-off mistake,” Boerke continued.
Beyond issues with reporting accurate results, the Complaint alleges that WEC has worked feverishly since at least February 2025 to restrict what ballot handling activities may be viewed by election observers. Windows that previously allowed observation into separate ballot-handling rooms were first covered or obscured; now, those same windows have been walled off entirely, eliminating any way to observe, or even know of, the rooms’ existence.
“That MEC has engaged in efforts to affirmatively block observers from viewing these ballot-handling rooms is unconscionable,” said Boerke. “But replacing interior windows with bricks or drywall to conceal even the very existence of these rooms, let alone the activity inside, is unbelievable. This isn’t how we run elections in America.”
(CEC previously submitted comments to WEC, urging open and transparent election observation).
Mr. Gavery alleges that MEC’s efforts to prevent public transparency in election administration have not ended with brick walls and new drywall. On at least two separate occasions, MEC has failed to notice vitally important public meetings, including the public test of election tabulating equipment for the August 11 primary.
“With the general election weeks away, Milwaukee needs to show voters what has changed: who has been retrained, what the new verification steps are, and how observers will be accommodated at Central Count on November 3,” Boerke concluded.
CEC urges WEC to consider seriously the allegations in Mr. Gavery’s complaint, conduct an investigation, and ensure that Milwaukee follows the law in future elections.
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Background:
Milwaukee is Wisconsin’s largest municipality, with nearly 275,000 registered voters as of the Aug. 11 election, per MEC. It is one of 40 municipalities in the state — out of 1,852 — that have opted to process absentee ballots at a central location rather than at individual polling places, a choice that concentrates a large share of the city’s ballots in a single facility on election day.
Relevant Reporting and Other Materials:
- Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Download error in Milwaukee delays final results in Wisconsin primary election
- Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: Photos capture the Milwaukee election night download error
- FOX6: Wisconsin election: “Human error” delays Milwaukee count
- Wisconsin Public Radio: Election officials waiting for more information on Milwaukee’s delays following primary results
- Milwaukee Election Commission audit logs from August 11, 2026, primary
- Letter from Milwaukee Election Commission to Wisconsin Elections Commission regarding transmission of audit logs in place of votes
- CEC’s previous comments to WEC on the importance of open and transparent election observation.
Photographs of MEC Efforts to Restrict Election Observation (as alleged in the Complaint):
(Above) Additional windows completely walled off for the Primary Election.
About the Center for Election Confidence:
The Center for Election Confidence is a nonprofit organization with a long history of advancing ethics, integrity, and legal professionalism in the electoral process, including safeguarding the right of eligible voters to vote. Formerly known as Lawyers Democracy Fund, CEC works towards increasing confidence in election results and election systems. The endurance of our republic requires trustworthy, understandable voting processes established well in advance of the election through clear laws and procedures.