'Eyes of the nation' on Milwaukee as state commission requests records release

(The Center Square) – The Wisconsin Elections Commission will vote Monday on if it should send a letter related to errors at Milwaukee Central Count in the Aug. 11 primary.

The letter asks Milwaukee to provide information to the public to explain what measures will be taken to ensure the mistake is not made again.

“To build confidence in Milwaukee’s process ahead of the November General Election, MEC should answer these questions and provide information to the public as soon as practicable,” the draft letter states. “Fair or unfair, the eyes of the nation are often on Milwaukee and providing transparency into the system, especially when a mistake occurs, is a critical service to the voters of our state.”

The proposed letter comes as the Milwaukee Election Commission told Dairyland Sentinel that it would take “several weeks to months” to produce records related to the mistake, when the central count uploaded an audit log report from five central count tabulators instead of a report of election results, delaying public reporting on the unofficial election results.

Dairyland Sentinel asked for and Inspectors’ Statement along with attachments from central count, any working documents related to that report and any forms related to ballot reconciliation, rejected ballots, challenges, equipment issues and seal information.

The WEC, meanwhile, is asking for the public release of audit logs from each tabulator.

“Publicly releasing the audit logs of each central count tabulator used on August 11, 2026, will conclusively prove that no unauthorized activity occurred between the time the audit report was initially run, the time the error was recognized, and when each central county tabulator ultimately produced a report of its unofficial results,” the letter states. “While many observers from both political parties and members of the media were present and observing the tabulators during the download of results, it is important that the public-at large be provided with a definitive record that shows no activity was conducted on the tabulators during the time period between download of the audit logs and the results report.”