Milwaukee election officials confirmed that five of nine USB drives used to transfer absentee ballot results during Wisconsin’s gubernatorial primary contained audit logs instead of vote data, delaying final results by over 12 hours. The error, attributed to human error by Milwaukee Election Commission executive director Paulina Gutierrez, required officials to re-download the correct data from the central processing location.
Gutierrez stated there were no issues with voting machines, emphasizing that the problem occurred during the data transfer process. She described the mistake as a simple button press error during the download of results from tabulators. The affected drives were corrected, and official results were released early Wednesday morning, confirming David Crowley’s narrow victory over Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong in the Democratic primary.
The delay drew national attention, with NBC News political correspondent Steve Kornacki appearing visibly frustrated during a live broadcast as he awaited updated results. Kornacki remarked on-air, “Really? Really?” before acknowledging the need to pause the segment without finalized data. Hong ultimately conceded the race shortly after the corrected results were announced.
Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson reiterated that the issue stemmed solely from the USB drives and did not involve any malfunction of the voting equipment. He confirmed that all ballots were properly counted once the correct data was retrieved. The incident has prompted discussions about election administration procedures, though no formal reviews or policy changes have been announced as of the latest reporting.
Reactions from Political Figures
Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), publicly questioned the integrity of the process. Van Orden posted on social media that “the democrat establishment stole the election from Hong,” framing the error as intentional. Other conservative commentators amplified the claim, suggesting the delay indicated broader systemic issues in election administration.
Progressive voices, including Hong’s campaign, did not allege fraud but expressed frustration with the delay. Hong’s campaign manager stated that the candidate was aware of the technical issue and remained confident in the final outcome. No evidence of tampering or intentional wrongdoing has been presented by election officials or independent auditors.
Election Officials Address Concerns
Gutierrez emphasized that the error was an isolated human mistake and not indicative of flaws in Milwaukee’s election infrastructure. She noted that the process was conducted in a public setting and that the correction was completed without further complications. The Milwaukee Election Commission has not indicated plans to alter its procedures, though some observers have called for additional safeguards to prevent similar incidents in future elections.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission has not issued a statement regarding the incident, and no formal investigations have been launched. The primary results have been certified, and Crowley is set to advance to the general election in November.