MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A local elections official failed to realize that Wisconsin’s new legislative maps moved a rural town into a new district, leading to an administrative error that could deprive several voters of the Republican state House primary.
The new maps moved Summit, a town of about 1,000 in Douglas County in far northern Wisconsin, out of the 73rd Assembly District and into the 74th. Incumbent Chanz Green and former prison guard Scott Harbridge faced off in Tuesday’s primary for the GOP nomination in the 74th District, while Democrats Angela Stroud and John Adams faced off in the primary for the 73rd District.
Summit voters received ballots in the 73rd primary, the 74th primary, County Clerk Kaci Jo Lundgren announced in a news release early Tuesday afternoon. The error means votes cast in Summit’s 73rd primary likely won’t be counted under state law, Lundgren said. Also, no one in Summit could vote for Green or Harbridge in 74.
Lundgren, who oversees elections in Douglas County, told The Associated Press in a phone interview that he looked at the new legislative boundaries many times but somehow missed that the summit is now in the 74th District.
“It was human error,” he said. “It was a mistake. I made that mistake. … It was negligence in one municipality.”
Wisconsin Board of Elections Director Meagan Wolfe said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon that state law does not address such a situation.
“I don’t know what the remedies might look like,” Wolfe said. “I’m not aware of anything like this happening, no 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 in other Assembly races, including ballot questions on whether the state should adopt two constitutional amendments that limit the governor’s power to use federal aid, will still be counted, he said.
The liberal state Supreme Court rejected legislative boundaries drawn by Republicans in 2023. GOP lawmakers in February accepted new maps drawn by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers rather than let a liberal court draw districts that might be even worse for them. Tuesday’s primary will mark the first election where the new boundaries are in play.
The confusion surrounding the new maps seemed to be limited to the Summit. The state Board of Elections had not heard of similar omissions anywhere else in the state, Wolfe said.
State Republican Party spokesman Matt Fisher had no immediate comment. No one immediately responded to an email the AP sent to Green’s campaign.
Harbridge told the AP in a phone interview that the mistake shouldn’t matter unless the race between him and Green is close. He has already consulted with some lawyers, but he doesn’t have the money to challenge the results in court, he said.
“I’m not happy with it at all,” he said of the mistake. “I don’t understand how this can happen.”
