A discrepancy in the unofficial election results for a state assembly race could change the outcome.
Although the official canvassing process is not complete, Democrat Robyn Vining, declared victory in the race to represent District 14, which covers part of Milwaukee and Waukesha counties.
Vining made the declaration after updated vote totals in Wauwatosa’s wards 16 and 17 put her ahead of her top Republican opponent, Matt Adamczyk.
Vining gained 538 votes in the revised count, while Adamczyk gained 385 votes. Vining now leads District 14 by more than 100 votes.
“From what we were seeing, it wasn’t adding up for us the way that it looked on the television and so we didn’t think it was over yet,” said Vining.
The discrepancy surprised voters in the district.
“It’s crazy," said voter Kirstin Abrams. "I didn’t realize there were that kind of issues around this area. I hope it doesn’t happen again. You definitely want to think that your vote counts."
Julietta Henry, the Director of Milwaukee County’s Election Commission, explained what happened.
“The next day as we were going through this process, we discovered there was an error In Wauwatosa’s result,” Henry said. “When they modemed in the results, an error message came up that said partially sent."
Henry said her team can’t definitively pinpoint whether there was a problem with the modem inside a voting machine, or if an election worker removed a flash drive with voting data on it too prematurely.
“They are unofficial results, that’s why they are called unofficial, we are in the process of certifying the election,” said Henry.
Adamczyk provided us with this statement. In part, it says, “This new unofficial result discovery is the reason we have a canvass. I will wait until after the official canvass results to announce my decision whether or not I pursue a recount.”
Wauwatosa’s City Clerk told TODAY’S TMJ4 from now on at all polling locations, workers will send absentee votes after the regular votes, hoping that will make the process smoother.
The Associated Press reports that if the result is confirmed for Vining, it would leave Republicans with a 63-36 edge in the chamber.
