Municipal Clerks to Report Waukesha County Election Results

Clarification, 6:20 p.m. Friday, April 20: Shawn Lundie, Waukesha County Executive Dan Vrakas’ chief of staff clarified that the municipalities will be sending the election night results to the Government Accountability Board in addition to the county also tabulating the votes.

“Our role hasn’t changed,” Lundie said.

The county will still post unofficial results with the GAB, canvass the votes and perform all other duties under state law.

This story has been updated to clarify that information.

Note: This story was updated at 5:55 p.m. Friday to include additional details on the change from the county executive's office.

It looks like the office of embattled Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus won't be able to bungle the counting of votes in next month's recall primary election after safeguards are being put in place.

That's because Waukesha County is now requiring municipalities with the capability to do so to submit the results directly to the state instead of first reporting them to the county.

Votes will be entered directly into the state system by the municipal clerks, which eliminates the need for clerks or election workers to come to the county clerk’s office on election night.

After the results are entered into the state system, clerks will sign a report and fax it to the county clerk’s office, according to an email sent by Deputy County Clerk Kelly Yaeger to area clerks.

The change in the procedure comes less than three weeks after the latest snafu in Nickolaus' office, when Those election night problems prompted County Executive Dan Vrakas to call on Nickolaus or he would publicly ask for her resignation.

A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial on April 4 also called for Nickolaus to hand over election night duties.

Yaeger was named to oversee the May 8 and June 5 recall elections.

Nickolaus, who garnered national attention in April 2011 when her office made a mistake that , said she introduced new procedures prior to the April 3 elections to follow guidelines set forth by the state.

Now those procedures are changing again — just weeks before the primary election. Clerks from the four biggest municipalities in Waukesha County — Waukesha, Brookfield, Menomonee Falls and New Berlin — will meet with the county on Monday to discuss the new election night procedures.

"The change will be that they will be reporting those results directly to the GAB,” said Shawn Lundie, Vrakas' chief of staff.

The election night system will have a backup to “ensure accuracy” by having the clerk’s submit the vote information via fax to the county in addition to submitting it to the state website.

The change will affect only the communities that have the existing capabilities to submit the information, Lundie said.

Municipal clerks will be educated in the process and the county will test the system to ensure the clerk’s are comfortable with the changes, he added.

"The purpose of the change is to expedite and improve the process reporting the unofficial election night results,” Lundie said.

The county will still post unofficial results with the GAB, canvass the votes and perform all other duties under state law.

“Our role hasn’t changed,” Lundie said.

The email from Yaeger states that Waukesha County officials have met with the state Government Accountability Board, which oversees elections in Wisconsin, to discuss changing the process.

A spokesman for the GAB said Friday evening that he was unaware of the changes.