Waukesha CEO Receives Ballot Addressed To Village Of Caledonia

WAUKESHA, WI— An absentee ballot was inadvertently sent to the wrong address and the wrong county.

Mike Crowley, the CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Waukesha County, received an absentee ballot meant for Caledonia. Crowley, who is also a Waukesha County Board Supervisor, posted on Facebook on Friday 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. Crowley said he was shocked at what happened.

The ballot was from Racine County with a Caledonia address.

"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."

USPS told Patch the media inquiry was forwarded to the Milwaukee communications office.

Crowley took the ballot to the Waukesha County Clerk for a discussion and to make sure it gets sent to the Caledonia Village Clerk.

"I'm a believer in each vote is like gold. It is critical that people are heard and one of the ways is to vote," he told Patch.

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.

Other mix-ups

According to the Village of Waukesha, there have been three known mix-ups with absentee ballots. Democratic State Assembly candidate Aaron Perry told Patch a married couple in the same Village of Waukesha household received two different ballots. The ballots weren't printed incorrectly but the wrong one was mailed out.

One voter was mailed a correct ballot which has the 97th Assembly District race between Republican incumbent Rep. Scott Allen and his challenger, Perry. The woman's husband was mailed a ballot with a different race.

The Village of Waukesha Clerk at the time, Karen Couillard, emailed Patch to say the wrong ballot being mailed out was the result of human error. She submitted her resignation just over a month out from the Nov. 3 election, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.

According to the publication, clerk-treasurer Karen Couillard started the job in early September. Her resignation was accepted in a village board meeting Thursday night.
Couillard's resignation is set to take effect on Oct. 6.

Wartman said absentee voters are encouraged to check if they have the correct ballot by going to the website Myvotewi.gov. If the ballot is incorrect, call your local clerk.

Absentee vs. in-person voting

Crowley is a proponent of in-person voting. He pointed out if a person opens up an incorrectly mailed ballot, the voter's confidentiality is at stake.

"All these advocates are saying absentee voting is a safe way to vote. Baloney," Crowley said.

He added the best thing to do is to send the ballot directly to your municipality clerk or the drop box.

Crowley said he is speaking out about the error because "everyone's vote must be counted."