The Republican Party of Wisconsin announced on April 6 that it has filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Elections Commission against Green Bay City Clerk Celestine Jeffreys, alleging her office mailed more than one absentee ballot to at least 152 voters for the April 7 Spring Election.
The party said the error could undermine election integrity by creating risks of double voting and fraud. The issue was discovered when some voters who had already returned their ballots received additional unsolicited ballots, affecting multiple wards in Green Bay.
According to the Republican Party, Clerk Jeffreys admitted to Fox 11 News on April 2 that a “system glitch” caused the mistake. However, party officials say her office has not provided details about how it will track and manage these duplicate ballots to ensure none are counted twice during Election Day tabulation.
“Wisconsin law is clear: one voter, one ballot,” said WisGOP Chairman Brian Schimming. “This reckless failure by the Green Bay Clerk has created serious risks of double voting and fraud. The Elections Commission must immediately investigate and order a concrete plan to secure Tuesday’s election.”
The complaint accuses Jeffreys of violating state statutes governing absentee ballots by issuing unauthorized duplicates without following required procedures for spoiling or destroying original ballots. The Republican Party is asking the Elections Commission to launch an investigation into how many illegal ballots were sent out, require detailed plans from Green Bay officials on identifying and segregating duplicates at Central Count, and mandate corrective action to prevent similar problems in future elections.
A copy of the full complaint was made available by WisGOP.
