GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — Green Bay City Clerk Celestine Jeffreys has been placed on administrative leave after the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) authorized an investigation into the clerk’s office after duplicate ballots were sent to some voters twice within a year.
“While we have no concerns with the security or propriety of the electoral process, these errors in the Clerk’s Office are unacceptable,” a statement from the Green Bay mayor’s office said. “As we work to ensure these errors are never replicated, we welcome the input of the WEC and its staff.”
The City of Green Bay shared a statement on June 28 saying some voters in wards 11A, 12A, 37A, 44, 45, 46, 47 and part of Ward 43 may have received a duplicate ballot. Officials said the issue stemmed from a label-printing error and that impacted voters would receive a letter with instructions to return only one ballot. A similar error occurred in April, when 152 Green Bay voters received duplicate ballots for the spring election because of a printing error.
Both the April and June errors were discussed by the WEC at its quarterly meeting at the state Capitol on Thursday, July 9, where the commission authorized an investigation.
“I am really concerned that, first of all, it happened once. But for the exact same error to happen a second time, weeks later, it is unconscionable,” WEC Commissioner Ann Jacobs said at the July 9 meeting, referring to the second instance of duplicate ballots being sent to voters in Green Bay.
As part of the investigation, the city must explain how the errors happened twice and submit a plan to prevent future occurrences.
The Republican Party of Wisconsin submitted a complaint over the April incident and asked the WEC to investigate the error. After the second incident in June, the party again called on the WEC to investigate.
“Green Bay voters deserve reliable elections, not repeated failures that undermine trust,” WisGOP Communications Director Anika Rickard said after the June incident. “WEC must hold the clerk accountable, investigate, and ensure these issues are fixed before November.”
WisGOP responded to the authorization of the investigation with a statement Thursday.
“WEC’s investigation is a necessary first step, but an inquiry alone is not enough. Green Bay’s mailing of duplicate ballots is unacceptable,” WisGOP Chairman Brian Schimming said in the statement.
Jeffreys previously told the NBC 26 newsroom that she regrets the error.
“Our voters deserve clear, accurate and reliable election administration — these are the standards the city sets and that I set for my office,” Jeffreys said.
Voters can track their ballots ahead of the 2026 partisan primary at myvote.wi.gov.
