Full Breakdown
Human-Error USB Glitch Delays Milwaukee Primary Results
8/12/2026, 10:52:53 PM
How the Error Occurred
During the central count of absentee ballots for the 2026 Wisconsin primary, election officials discovered that five of the nine USB flash drives used to download tabulator data contained only audit logs, not the vote totals. The mistake was traced to an operator pressing the wrong button on the download interface. Technicians returned to the Central Count facility in Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood to re-download the missing results from the affected machines.
Impact on Vote Tally
The glitch left roughly 15,000 absentee ballots from the city uncounted, while about 11,000 had already been processed. Because of the re-download, the final tallies for the Democratic gubernatorial primary were pushed back by approximately one hour. At the time of the delay, David Crowley led Francesca Hong by about 2,400 votes in Milwaukee, with state-wide counts showing Crowley ahead by roughly 4,000 votes.
Official Statements
Paulina Gutierrez, executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, described the incident as “human error” and confirmed that the “wrong button was pressed.” She emphasized that the machines themselves were functioning correctly and that the issue lay solely with the USB sticks. County Clerk George Christenson estimated the delay would add about an hour to the final reporting and noted that the re-downloaded results would be sent to the Milwaukee County Courthouse for re-upload. Nick DeSiato, chief of staff for Mayor Cavalier Johnson, stressed that election accuracy is the city’s top priority and called for legislative review of early absentee-vote processing.
Verbatim Quote
- “Elections are a bedrock of democracy. The City of Milwaukee’s highest priority during an election is the accuracy of our vote count,” — Nick DeSiato, chief of staff for Mayor Cavalier Johnson
