Ballot printing error in Douglas County affects 700 voters

The wrong Assembly primary candidates were printed on ballots for voters in the Town of Summit in Douglas County, County Clerk Kaci Jo Lundgren said in a news release Tuesday afternoon. 

The error will affect Summit’s approximately 700 registered voters. 

Under Wisconsin’s new legislative maps, being used for the first time this year, Summit is in the 74th Assembly District, which has a contested Republican primary. The ballots printed for the town include the 73rd Assembly District, which has a contested Democratic primary. 

Lundren said in the release that the candidates have been notified of the error but that new ballots would not be printed because there’s not enough time to get new ones and reprogram the voting equipment and absentee ballots with the error have been circulating in the community for weeks. 

Lundgren added that voters in the town should proceed as planned but should contact the county clerk’s office with any questions. 

“My office is committed to transparency and accuracy. Our protocols will be thoroughly reviewed and any procedures that are identified that could eliminate this type of error in the future will be implemented,” Lundgren said in a statement.

About 4 in 10 county clerks in Wisconsin are managing their first election this year, as pressure and threats have mounted and many have left their jobs. Lundgren was appointed to her role in October 2022 to finish the term of the retiring previous clerk. She began in January 2023.

All other votes cast in other races on the ballot in Summit will count, Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe said at a Tuesday afternoon press conference. 

Wolfe added that decisions over how to handle the issue will be made by the local clerk and board of canvassers but that state statutes “do not give us a road map” for the incident. 

“I don’t know what the remedies might look like that could be offered if this is something that’s litigated,” Wolfe said. “To my knowledge, I’m not aware of something happening quite like this, of there being any sort of precedent for exactly what happens in this situation.”