Primary election results in Milwaukee were delayed Tuesday night due to a "human error" in which five of nine USB flash drives failed to download election data, leading to criticism of the election administration.
The error stalled the reporting of results for the closely watched Democratic gubernatorial primary between Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley and Francesca Hong. Officials said the issue delayed the county's results by approximately 90 minutes.
"We’re all human, and humans can make errors," said Paulina Gutiérrez, executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, during a midnight news conference. Election Commission staffers returned to Central Count with a police escort to retrieve the remaining voting data.
According to a news release from the Milwaukee Election Commission, the audit log, which documents activity on the tabulator, was downloaded instead of the election results. Officials emphasized that the error did not affect the results themselves, stating that "no ballots were lost or changed, or needed to be recounted or retabulated."
Former Milwaukee Election Commissioner Claire Woodall suggested the incident pointed to a potential training issue. "Was this person trained on how to export results? Are they familiar with the machines and how you export results?" Woodall told Votebeat.
After the correct data was downloaded, Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson addressed reporters, stating, "At the end of the day, what’s important is that we’re transparent, that the results are secure, and that we’re open and honest."
However, critics voiced concerns. "Complete incompetence at the facility isn’t helping anything here," Republican state Rep. Scott Krug wrote on X. "This was human error that could have easily been double checked before leaving the facility."
The Milwaukee incident follows other election administration issues in Democratic-led jurisdictions. In New Jersey, a software error improperly registered around 6,600 non-citizens, with fewer than 400 casting ballots. In Oregon, DMV errors led to 1,945 people being registered without proof of eligibility, 44 of whom voted. Additionally, a Connecticut judge ordered a new Democratic mayoral primary in Bridgeport due to absentee ballot violations.
This is not the first reported "human error" involving the Milwaukee Election Commission. In the 2024 presidential election, election officials recounted 31,000 absentee ballots because staffers did not lock tabulator doors, delaying results. During the 2020 presidential election, a former commissioner left one of 12 flash drives containing election results at Central Count, delaying the reporting of roughly 169,000 absentee ballots.
The race between Crowley and Hong was officially called at 2:34 a.m. Wednesday, with Crowley winning by 0.5% of the vote.