MADISON, Wis. — MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) — New Wisconsin Legislative Maps have apparently led to a clerical error that could disenfranchise dozens of voters in a Republican primary for the state Assembly.
The new maps moved Summit, a city of about 1,000 in Douglas County in far northern Wisconsin, out of the 73rd Assembly District and into the 74th District. Incumbent Chanz Green and former prison guard Scott Harbridge faced off in Tuesday’s primaries for the GOP nomination in the 74th District, while Democrats Angela Stroud and John Adams faced off in the primary in the 73rd District.
Voters in Summit received ballots for the 73rd primary instead of the 74th primary, County Clerk Kaci Jo Lundgren announced in a press release early Tuesday afternoon. The error means that votes cast in the 73rd primary in Summit likely won’t count under state law, Lundgren said. In addition, no one in Summit could vote for Green or Harbridge in the 74th.
Lundgren, who oversees elections in Douglas County, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that she had looked at the new legislative boundaries several times but somehow failed to notice that Summit is now in the 74th District.
“It was human error,” she said. “It was a mistake. I made that mistake. … It was an oversight in one community.”
Meagan Wolfe, director of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon that state law does not provide a solution to such a situation.
“I don’t know what the remedies might look like,” Wolfe said. “I’m not aware of anything like this, any precedent in this situation.”
Wolfe said Summit voters who cast ballots in the 73rd primary did not commit fraud because they were given official ballots. Votes cast in other races on the Summit ballot, including ballot questions on whether the state should adopt two constitutional amendments limiting the governor’s authority to spend federal aid, still counted, she said.
The state’s liberal-leaning Supreme Court rejected Republican-drawn legislative boundaries in 2023. GOP lawmakers in February adopted new maps that Democratic Governor Tony Evers signed instead of letting the liberal court create districts that could be even worse for them. Tuesday’s primary will be the first election with the new boundaries in play.
The confusion surrounding the new maps appeared to be limited to Summit. The state election board had not heard of similar errors elsewhere in the state, Wolfe said.
Matt Fisher, a spokesman for the state Republican Party, had no immediate comment. No one immediately responded to an email the AP sent to Green’s campaign.
Harbridge told The AP in a telephone interview that the error shouldn’t matter unless the race between him and Green is close. He has consulted with lawyers, but he doesn’t have the money to fight the outcome in court, he said.
“I’m not happy about it at all,” he said of the mistake. “I don’t understand how this could have happened.”
