NEWS ALERT: Republican demands probe after city sends out 2,000 duplicate absentee ballots

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From Fox News: Rep. Tom Tiffany, R-Wis., demanded an immediate investigation Tuesday after city of Madison officials said 2,215 duplicate ballots had been sent out across 10 wards in error.

Madison officials said the duplicate ballots have identical bar codes and so can’t be counted twice.

The clerk’s office described what happened as a “data processing error,” explaining that the duplicate ballots have identical bar codes, so even if a voter submitted two absentee ballots, only one could be counted because the voting system does not accept the same bar code twice.  

Also, once the ballot is scanned, the voter is marked in the poll book as having submitted an absentee ballot. That is another safeguard against the voter submitting a second ballot, the clerk’s office said.

According to Deputy Clerk of the City of Madison Jim Verbick, “there was a human error that occurred,” impacting voters who had the same style or listed the same offices on their ballots.

“A mistake was made, the Clerk’s Office moved swiftly to rectify the error and reassure voters, but there is NO possibility of a duplicate absentee ballot being counted,” city spokesperson Dylan Brogan claimed in a statement to Fox News.

However, Rep. Tom Tiffany later posted a photo of his ballot and announced that the ballots DO NOT have a barcode – contrary to what city officials claimed.

On Tuesday, Tiffany fired off a letter to the City of Madison about the duplicate ballots and announced, “Yesterday, the City of Madison Clerk admitted to an “error” that resulted in thousands of duplicate absentee ballots being mailed. Wisconsinites deserve transparency and answers. How was the error discovered, what ward(s) were impacted, and who is responsible for the error?”

“The City of Madison clerk said the duplicate absentee ballots were sent to one ward yesterday,” Tiffany added in another post on Tuesday. “Now, they say it’s 10. There needs to be an independent investigation now, not after the election.”

Wednesday evening, Tiffany announced:

DEVELOPING: Although the Madison Clerk’s Office claims, “The voting system does not allow a ballot with the same barcode to be submitted,” my office has proof that there is no barcode on the actual ballots.

Here is a picture of the absentee ballots – NO BARCODE.

The Madison Clerk’s Office original press release said nothing about a barcode on the envelope. They claimed it was on the ballot, and only changed their quote after we exposed it. Why do they keep editing their statements and press releases?

On Thursday, Tiffany fired off another letter, and wrote:

There’s been many inconsistencies in what the Madison Clerk’s Office originally said about the duplicate absentee ballots to now.

How can we trust them when they continue to change their statements?

1 ward impacted ➡️ 10 wards impacted
Barcode on ballot ➡️ Barcode on envelope
Around and up to 2,000 ballots ➡️ 2,215 ballots
Contacted each voter immediately ➡️ Mailed a letter that many folks haven’t received.

An independent, third-party investigation is needed to restore public trust.

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