WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) —Marathon County Clerk Kim Trueblood says reconstructing ballots during an election occurs more often than you may think.
“Let’s say an election inspector is opening up an absentee ballot and they inadvertently slice the ballot in half when they are opening the envelope,” said Trueblood. “They would have to remake that ballot onto a new ballot. It does happen.”
Trueblood made her comments after Tuesday’s non-partisan election when Wausau Wards 1 and 2 ran out of ballots. Her office printed another batch, but the tabulating machines couldn’t read them. That required another round of printing.
During that process, some voters filled out a temporary ballot. Election officials then transferred those votes onto the newly printed ballots once they confirmed that the machines could read them. Trueblood says her staff followed the process step by step, and there’s a paper trail to prove it. “It’s a very straightforward process. The original ballot is retained along with the remade ballot. They are marked ‘original ballot 1, remade ballot 1’ and numbered consecutively.
“So if there was ever a question, we can reopen that ballot bag and go back to compare so the voters have confidence that their ballots were remade according to their original intention,” added Trueblood.
That entire process is watched by two Chief Elections Inspectors as well.
Because of those processes, Trueblood says there’s no reason for anyone to question the integrity or security of Tuesday’s vote or any election in Marathon County.
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Voter turnout for Tuesday’s election was over 32%. Canvassers will finalize the numbers on Monday.
