The Madison city clerk’s office sent an unknown number of absentee ballot letters with incorrect information regarding Tuesday’s primary election, sparking confusion among voters.
According to Deputy City Clerk Adam Gallagher, a “handful” of correct ballots were sent out with a letter that listed the wrong deadline to return ballots to the City Clerk’s Office.
Instead of having a deadline of Feb. 17 — the day for the primary election — some letters are marked April 7, the day of the spring election. However, Gallagher added the return date on all of the ballots is correct.
According to Gallagher, the mistake was human error. An employee accidentally grabbed some letters printed for the general election while putting together ballot mailings.
“Only a handful out of the thousands of ballots we sent out had the letter with the wrong date enclosed,” Gallagher said.
However, Gallagher maintains most voters will not be confused concerning the proper return date of their ballots.
According to Katrina Flores, candidate for District 8 alder, the primary election is very important because the aldermanic race is very competitive. While Flores said the mistake will probably not have a large effect on the election, she is concerned voters will be confused.
Flores, a University of Wisconsin graduate student, said the city clerk’s office should send voters literature to correct the mistake and clarify the date.
“The alders have been busy on campus, trying to raise awareness about when the primary election is,” Flores added. “Hopefully, our work as alders will counteract any confusion that voters might face.”
UW junior Jacob Schmidt, also a candidate for District 8, said he believes voters have been exposed to enough correct information concerning primary deadlines that they will not be confused. Further, he mentioned Facebook, student newspapers and personal campaigning as sufficient sources of advertising to the voting public.
Sherman Hackbarth, a candidate for District 2 alder, said he is concerned about the election results because people requested an absentee ballot and received conflicting information.
“There is ambiguity, two different dates,” Hackbarth said. “So certainly there is a concern.”
According to Gallagher, most of the citizens who received the wrong letter have called the clerk’s office to confirm the return date. However, Gallagher said the City Clerk’s Office has not made an explicit effort to alert voters who received the wrong letter about the mistake.
According to the Wisconsin State Database, 2,494 absentee ballots were sent out for the 2009 primary election. Less than 20 ballots were sent with the wrong letter accompanying it, said Gallagher.
“I’m not sure if anything exactly like this has happened before,” Gallagher said. “But clerical mistakes happen all across the board, no matter where you work.”
Ballots should be returned on or before Feb. 17 to the City Clerk’s Office in the City-County Building, 210 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Madison, WI 53703-3342, Room 103.
