State Elections Regulators Consider Pressuring Milwaukee Over Withheld Election Records

The search for answers from the City of Milwaukee is now escalating to the highest levels of state election oversight.

On August 14, Dairyland Sentinel submitted a formal public records request to the Milwaukee Election Commission seeking internal Central Count documents from the August 11 Partisan Primary. State Rep. Dave Maxey (R-New Berlin) has also demanded answers from Milwaukee election officials, and now the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) is considering formal intervention at its August 31 meeting.

A Chain Reaction for Accountability

The August 11 Partisan Primary marked the third major mishap at Milwaukee’s central count operation in recent election cycles.

2020 Election: A flash drive containing voting data was left behind at the facility.
2024 Election: Unlocked tabulator doors triggered a recount of approximately 31,000 ballots.
August 11, 2026 Primary: Election staff left the central count facility without exporting results from five of the nine tabulators, requiring a police-escorted return trip and delaying results by roughly 90 minutes.

Maxey, who chairs the Assembly Committee on Campaigns and Elections, sent a demand for answers to MEC Executive Director Paulina Gutiérrez on August 21, calling the city’s recurring central count blunders “a travesty, plain and simple.”

“Three strikes is not bad luck, but rather a pattern of mismanagement,” Maxey wrote, referencing a history of central count issues in Milwaukee spanning back to 2020. He gave Gutiérrez 30 days to answer detailed questions or step down if she cannot fix the recurring problems.

Now, state regulators are following the path toward transparency. During its scheduled August 31 meeting, the WEC will consider taking official action regarding Milwaukee’s latest central count debacle.

What the State Draft Requires

According to the WEC meeting agenda packet, staff prepared a draft letter at the request of the Commission. The letter addresses the August 11 incident where MEC staff accidentally downloaded audit logs instead of unofficial results from five central count tabulators, causing significant reporting delays.

While the WEC notes it is unaware of any compromised vote tallies, staff highlighted that “mistakes and resulting delays can undermine the public’s confidence in the election process”.

To rebuild trust before November, the draft letter asks the MEC to:

Release Audit Logs: Publicly release all central count tabulator audit logs from August 11 to prove no unauthorized activity occurred during the delay.
Detail Staff Training: Provide a concrete plan for how staff will be trained to properly export tabulation results in future elections.
Provide Observer Checklists: Consider publishing step-by-step checklists so election observers can follow along on election night.
Test Download Procedures: Test and demonstrate result download procedures during public pre-election equipment testing.

What Dairyland Sentinel Requested

Dairyland Sentinel submitted a formal Public Records Request to Gutiérrez’s office requesting primary source materials related to the August 11 central count, including completed Inspectors’ Statements (Form EL-104) and interim forms documenting ballot reconciliation or equipment problems. See the full request below.

Options Before the State Commission

When the WEC convenes on August 31, commissioners will have three distinct paths forward regarding the proposed letter:

Vote to send the letter as written: Approve the draft without changes to formally press Milwaukee for answers and audit log releases.
Amend the letter to broaden the request: Expand the scope of the letter to demand the full set of primary source materials, such as completed Inspectors’ Statements (Form EL-104) and preliminary reconciliation working documents that Dairyland Sentinel requested in our public records filing.
Decline to send the query: Vote against issuing any formal inquiry or request to the MEC altogether.

A Contrast in Urgency

The WEC’s push to address these issues before the fall election stands in stark contrast to the MEC’s handling of our original open records request.

It took the MEC ten days and a direct follow-up inquiry from Dairyland Sentinel just to acknowledge our August 14 Open Records Request filing. When city officials finally responded on August 24, they warned that processing the request could take “several weeks to months,” potentially pushing the release of key records past the November 3 General Election.

From our initial filing to legislative demands and now potential state regulatory action, the push for transparency in Milwaukee’s election administration continues to grow. Dairyland Sentinel will monitor the August 31 WEC meeting closely and report on the outcome.

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:

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.

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.

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