The Milwaukee Election Commission is still holding back the real-time paperwork from its troubled August 11 central-count operation, leaving both the Wisconsin Elections Commission and Dairyland Sentinel waiting for records that explain what actually happened on election night.

City officials told WEC they plan to publish final tally sheets, machine audit logs, and precinct-processing reports by September 4. But they have not addressed the bulk of Dairyland Sentinel’s August 14 records request, which seeks the draft reconciliation sheets, seal logs, incident notes, and other working documents completed by election workers during the shift. Even if Milwaukee officials deliver everything it promised to WEC last week, most of the public-facing request will remain unfulfilled.

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Dairyland Sentinel asked the Milwaukee Election Commission for the raw, unedited paper trail from inside central count, including:

  • Preliminary Inspectors’ Statements or any working versions circulated or used during the shift
  • Draft reconciliation forms documenting ballot totals, discrepancies, rejected ballots, and equipment problems
  • Incident and unusual-event logs
  • Seal and chain-of-custody records
  • Any notes or worksheets created while workers attempted to fix the export error

These are the documents that show what workers saw and did in real time, not the polished summaries created after the fact.

When the Milwaukee Election Commission finally responded to our request on August 24, the city warned that processing the request could take weeks or months and come with a cost to the publication, a timeline that could push release of primary records past the November general election. Instead of fulfilling our full request, MEC told state regulators that, by this coming Friday, it would release only final forms and machine logs, none of which guarantee the inclusion of the draft paperwork from the shift.

Dairyland Sentinel Publisher Brian Fraley said the city’s selective release keeps voters in the dark.

“Posting final tallies after weeks of pressure doesn’t explain what actually happened,” Fraley said. “The public needs the draft sheets, the problem logs, the notes from Central Count, why are they hiding public documents from the public?”

WEC had planned to vote Monday on a letter formally asking Milwaukee to release the documents. MEC then announced it would make certain records available, prompting WEC to wait and review whatever the city publishes later this week. Those materials will include an audit log showing whether any action was taken on the machines between the first and second downloads.

The August 11 primary was the third major central-count mishap in recent cycles:

  • 2020: A flash drive containing voting data was left behind at the facility.
  • 2024: Unlocked tabulator doors triggered a recount of roughly 31,000 ballots.
  • 2026: Staff left without exporting results from five of nine tabulators, requiring a police-escorted return and delaying results by about 90 minutes.

State Representative Dave Maxey (R-New Berlin), chair of the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections, sent MEC Executive Director Paulina Gutiérrez a letter on August 21 demanding answers. He called the recurring issues “a travesty” and said the pattern shows mismanagement, not bad luck. Maxey gave Gutiérrez 30 days to respond or step aside if she cannot fix the problems.

Milwaukee’s final forms may satisfy WEC’s immediate request, but the public is still waiting for the documents that show how the breakdown actually unfolded at Central Count on election night and who did or did not act properly.

Our original request of the Milwaukee Election Commission

August 14, 2026

Paulina Gutiérrez
Executive Director,Milwaukee Election Commission
VIA EMAIL
City Hall, Room 501
200 E. Wells St.
Milwaukee, WI 53202

RE: Public Records Request, August 11, 2026 Partisan Primary Central Count Records

Ms. Gutiérrez:

Pursuant to Wisconsin’s Public Records Law, Wis. Stat. §§ 19.31-19.39, I am requesting electronic copies of records relating to the City of Milwaukee’s Central Count operation for the Aug. 11, 2026, Partisan Primary.

Specifically, I request:

  1. Every completed Inspectors’ Statement, Form EL-104, associated with Milwaukee Central Count for the Aug. 11 election, including all pages, continuation pages, attachments, amendments, corrections and supplemental materials.
  2. Any preliminary, interim, working or predecessor version of an Inspectors’ Statement or comparable form that was submitted, circulated, transmitted, retained, reviewed, relied upon or maintained by the Milwaukee Election Commission, the Central Count chief election inspector or other Central Count election officials.
  3. Any preliminary or interim forms completed, submitted or filed by a Central Count chief election inspector, including forms documenting ballot reconciliation, discrepancies, ballot totals, tabulator totals, incidents, unusual events, challenges, rejected ballots, equipment problems, seal information or other matters later incorporated into or relevant to the final Inspectors’ Statement.

This request is intentionally not limited to the final or certified EL-104. It seeks records created or maintained during the process of documenting and reconciling the Central Count operation, provided those materials constitute “records” under Wis. Stat. § 19.32(2). That statute broadly includes written, printed, electronic and other materials that have been created or kept by an authority in connection with official business. 

The election statutes specifically contemplate the creation and preservation of these records. Under Wis. Stat. § 7.52(4)(d), upon completion of the tally sheets, election inspectors “shall immediately complete the inspectors’ statement.” Wisconsin administrative rules identify the inspectors’ statement as Form EL-104 and require the chief election inspector to certify on that statement that the chief holds current certification. See Wis. Admin. Code § EL 11.01.

Wis. Stat. § 7.52 also requires election officials conducting the central count to make a full and accurate return of the votes cast on the prescribed tally sheets. Wisconsin law further provides for the retention of the original inspectors’ statement by the municipal clerk. See Wis. Stat. § 7.51(5)(a)4. 

These records are requested under Wisconsin’s Public Records Law. Wis. Stat. § 19.35(1)(a) provides that, except as otherwise provided by law, a requester has the right to inspect a record and to make or receive a copy of a record. Under Wis. Stat. § 19.35(4)(a), an authority must respond to a records request “as soon as practicable and without delay” by either fulfilling the request or notifying the requester of its determination. 

Please provide the records electronically by email whenever possible. If records responsive to this request are maintained electronically, I am requesting them in their existing electronic format rather than as printed copies.

Because these records are being requested for news-gathering purposes by Dairyland Sentinel and concern the administration of a Wisconsin election, I request that any permissible fees be waived or reduced in the public interest pursuant to Wis. Stat. § 19.35(3)(e).

If you anticipate any charge, please provide an estimate before incurring costs. Wisconsin law permits location fees only when the actual, necessary and direct cost of locating responsive records reaches the statutory threshold. See Wis. Stat. § 19.35(3)(c). 

If any responsive record or portion of a record is withheld, please identify the specific record being withheld and provide the specific statutory or common-law basis for the denial. If only a portion of a record is subject to withholding, please redact that portion and provide the remainder.

If the Election Commission believes another City of Milwaukee office is the legal custodian of any responsive record, please identify that office and, if practicable, forward this request to the appropriate custodian.

Thank you. I look forward to your response as soon as practicable and without delay.

Brian Fraley
Publisher
Dairyland Sentinel
(262) 204-7059‬