The former clerk for the Wisconsin city of Madison committed “significant violations” with nearly 200 uncounted absentee ballots in the November 2024 election, according to an internal report.
The report was released Tuesday, after Maribeth Witzel-Behl resigned from her position last month as city clerk. She failed to count 193 absentee ballots in the November election and didnāt inform the Wisconsin Elections Commission until Dec. 18, leading to an internal investigation.
The results of the election were certified on Nov. 29, 2024. The 193 ballotsĀ were found in two batches, the first on Nov. 12 and the second on Dec. 3.
The internal investigation found that Witzel-Behl was derelict in her duties, āinconsistentā in her testimony for the investigation, and committed āsignificant violationsā of city policy.
āWhile the mistake in getting the ballots counted on Election Night appears to have been primarily a process of training failure that could have been avoided, there were multiple opportunities for the ballots to have subsequently been counted after Election Day,ā the report concluded. āThe failure to do so was a dereliction of duties on the part of the City Clerk.āĀ
Investigative findings also included Witzel-Behl’s failure to inform the elections commission, the Dane County Clerk and the offices of Madison mayor and city attorney about the uncounted ballots.
The investigation didn’t find any violation of state laws, but noted that WEC’s investigation into Witzel-Behl “may find potential violations of State law.”
