USPS: Wrongly Delivered Ballot Now Sent To Correct Address

WAUKESHA, WI— The U.S. Postal Service is responding to the report of an absentee ballot inadvertently sent to the wrong address and the wrong county.

G. Bryan Reeves, Customer Relations Coordinator, released a statement:

"The U.S. Postal Service’s number one priority between now and the November election is the secure, timely delivery of the nation’s Election Mail. The Postal Service is committed to providing outstanding customer service and delivering Election Mail securely and in a timely manner.

We are aware of the incident, in which a ballot was miscoded due to address placement on the ballot envelope, which now has been corrected. We have retrieved the mail piece and delivered it to the correct address.

We take customer concerns very seriously and have discussed the incident with our employees. We regret any concern caused."

Mike Crowley, the CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Waukesha County, received an absentee ballot meant for Caledonia on Friday. Crowley, who is also a Waukesha County Board Supervisor, posted on Facebook about the incident. The ballot was in a locked mailbox at the Habitat for Humanity headquarters in Waukesha.

Crowley said the United States Postal Service carrier placed the ballot, along with three other regular pieces of mail, in the mailbox.

"It was processed through Milwaukee USPS, then to Waukesha USPS, sorted, and the carrier placed it in our mailbox," Crowley said.

Crowley told Patch he believes it was human error and that the carrier "failed to properly sort the mail."

Crowley said he spoke with the Wisconsin Election Commission and they launched an investigation.

Waukesha County Clerk Meg Wartman told Patch she spoke with the post office. When the Milwaukee post office sorted the mail, the bar code mark went through the bottom portion of the address line and somehow the mail was misdirected, Wartman said.

"Somehow when it arrived at the City of Waukesha Post Office, no one caught it there. The carrier then delivered it to the Habitat for Humanity," Wartman said.