'Ridiculous:' Late Night of Vote Counting Has Mayor Asking for a Better Solution

Muskego's turnout in the Nov. 6 presidential election was indeed robust, and for the most part went off without a hitch.

"I have to say thank you to our election officials, the day went unbelievably smooth," Mayor Kathy Chiaverotti announced just prior to the Common Council meeting on Tuesday. "We also had a record number of early voters, and we had extra poll workers that we called in to central count here at City Hall to work with the absentee ballots. Even I was enlisted to help out, and I can tell you the process is just ridiculous," she said.

Workers took until past 2 a.m. Wednesday morning to complete the casting of nearly 7,000 absentee ballots. They began around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, and the process of opening each ballot in a sealed envelope had the mayor shaking her head.

"I've met with our representative Dave Craig to see if there is something that can be done to alleviate this situation. There should be no reason early voters can't take their ballot and place it in a machine right away instead of having them all sealed individually to be opened later and then cast."

Muskego's next election is February 19 for the aldermanic primary, however it's unlikely that any changes will be made by the state by that time.