(The Center Square) – Wisconsin scored a 53, ahead of just 15 other states, in a new report on election security.
The Meyers Report rated state election processes based on 17 risk areas, giving an ultimate score between 0 and 100 with 100 being the most secure. Mississippi had the highest score at 83 while Nevada was the lowest at 30.
Wisconsin lost points due to 193 uncounted absentee ballots from the November 2024 election found in Madison due, after which an investigation from the Wisconsin Elections Commission investigation has found former Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl broke the law by leaving those ballots uncounted.
MacIver Institute CEO Annette Olson told The Center Square that a large concern out of the uncounted ballots is that the people of Madison have confidence that their ballots will be counted and handled properly in the future.
“We really want to make sure that people have confidence in the elections,” Olson said.
Olson is part of the Election Integrity Network, which has members from 26 states who meet regularly to discuss election integrity issues, determining if perceived issues are actual problems and ensuring that states and local officials are following election law and have been properly trained.
The group has both short-term and long-term goals on legislation to ensure the public has confidence in elections including the proper handling of absentee ballots and ensuring that American citizens are the only people voting in elections with stricter voter identification laws.
“How do we make sure that when people vote absentee, they know that every ballot is handled with integrity, transparency and the property chain of custody?” Olson said the group asks.
The Meyers Report pointed to the Carter-Baker Commission, which said that mail-in ballots and lack of voter identification were the two greatest risks in the American election system.
The U.S. Department of Justice has asked that state voter rolls be available for free, with 75% of the other nations used in the Meyers Report fulfilling that obligation. But Wisconsin was included as one of the eight states that do not comply with the DOJ request, along with Arizona, Colorado, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York and Pennsylvania.
The report also pointed to lax oversight of absentee voting and voter registration as potential isses while citing a 2021 Legislative Audit Bureau report showing the WEC violated state election law.
The report encourages states to maintain a consistent chain of custody on ballots, ensure only citizens vote while requiring government photo identification. It also recommended voters have privacy to vote without intimidation, results should be timely confirmed through recounts and audits and voters should have access to voter rolls.
