XPost: milw.politics, alt.politics.elections, alt.politics.democrats
XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, sac.politics

MADISON, Wis. -- The mayor of Wisconsin's capital city said Wednesday she
has placed the municipal clerk on leave as investigators work to determine
how she failed to count almost 200 absentee ballots in the November
election.

Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said in a statement that the city has launched an investigation and that she needed to suspend City Clerk
Maribeth Witzel-Behl to maintain public confidence in the clerk’s office.
The mayor added that the city will spare no expense to ensure every vote
is counted heading into the swing state's spring election. The state
Elections Commission also is investigating whether Witzel-Behl violated
any state laws or abused her discretion.

The uncounted ballots did not change the results of any races but four
Madison voters whose ballots weren’t counted filed claims last week for $175,000 each from the city and Dane County, the first step toward
initiating a lawsuit.

No listing for Witzel-Behl's personal contact information could be
immediately found.

The suspension comes with the state's April 1 general election just weeks
away. The highest-profile race is between conservative Brad Schimel and
liberal Susan Crawford for an open state Supreme Court seat. The outcome
will determine the ideological balance of the court as it ponders cases involving abortion, the strength of public sector unions, voting rules and congressional district boundaries. Early voting begins next week.

Rhodes-Conway said in her statement that she has appointed City Attorney Michael Haas as interim city clerk and that she expects he will ensure the election runs smoothly in Madison. Haas has previously worked as
administrator and attorney for the state elections commission.

According to commission investigators, Wiztel-Behl’s office discovered 67 unprocessed absentee ballots in a courier bag that had been placed in a security cart. The discovery came on Nov. 12, seven days after the
election, while county workers were conducting the official count of
election results.

Witzel-Behl said she told two employees to notify the elections
commission, but neither did. A third city worker visited the Dane County Clerk’s Office to inform officials there, but that employee said the
county didn’t want the ballots for the count, known as a canvass. Dane
County Clerk Scott McDonell has said he knew nothing of the uncounted
ballots until they were reported in the media.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/wisconsin-clerk-failed-count-200- ballots-suspended-119723070

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