Milwaukee election officials are recounting nearly 30,000 absentee ballots after an error was discovered with tabulator seals.

Milwaukee spokesman Jeff Flemming stated, “We have no reason to believe that there was any compromise to any of the machines.”

He added, “But because they were not fully sealed, human error, and not fully sealed, we are going to zero them all out again, the 13 machines around, and then re-run the ballots that had already been processed.”

Fleming added, “It is gonna extend the time that we will get the totals here, we don’t know how much longer that will be. So it’s not insignificant.”

BREAKING: Milwaukee, WI election officials announced that they are recounting 30,000 absentee ballots after discovering that the scanning machine door wasn't properly closed. pic.twitter.com/nmbgWMwtzj

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 5, 2024

🚨BREAKING: MILWAUKEE OFFICIALS HAVE BEEN FORCED TO RECOUNT 30,000 BALLOTS DUE TO A "TABULATION ERROR."

Everyone needs to GO VOTE FOR TRUMP and STAY IN LINE!

Let's TAKE THIS COUNTRY BACK!🔥 pic.twitter.com/SEcVOtzr0s

— Bo Loudon (@BoLoudon) November 5, 2024

Here’s what The Hill reported:

Milwaukee election officials are recounting roughly 30,000 absentee ballots after issues were discovered with tabulator seals.

City spokesman Jeff Flemming told reporters the redo will likely cause delays in reporting those results in the key swing state.

“It’s just out of an abundance of caution,” Flemming said. “We have no reason to believe that there was any compromise to any of the machines. But because they were not fully sealed, human error, and not fully sealed, we are going to zero them all out again, the 13 machines around, and then re-run the ballots that had already been processed.”

Election workers had begun tabulating the ballots Tuesday morning. Unlike some other states, Wisconsin law does not permit counting to begin before Election Day.

Flemming added that some steps, like opening the envelopes and sorting the ballots, won’t have to be redone.
“What has to be redone is just what’s happening against the wall at the machines,” Flemming told reporters. “It is gonna extend the time that we will get the totals here, we don’t know how much longer that will be. So it’s not insignificant.”

Wisconsin is one of several states expected to be a razor-tight contest between Vice President Harris and former President Trump, meaning that a delay in reporting the 30,000 votes could impact when media outlets are able to project a winner.

BREAKING: The city of Milwaukee is going to recount about 30,000 absentee ballots that had already been counted.

There was an issue with one tabulator not being sealed. Out of precaution, the city will recount each ballot. A long night just got longer

— A.J. Bayatpour (@AJBayatpour) November 5, 2024

🚨#BREAKING: The city of Milwaukee announced that it will recount approximately 30 to 40 thousand absentee ballots that have already been counted due to an issue with one tabulator not being sealed. As a precaution, the city will recount each ballot. pic.twitter.com/8km2TJwskA

— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) November 5, 2024

Per PBS:

Election officials in Milwaukee are recounting more than 30,000 absentee ballots because doors on the ballot tabulators were not properly sealed.

The recounting was being done “out of an abundance of caution,” said Melissa Howard, spokesperson for the Milwaukee Election Commission.
There was no reason to believe that any ballots already counted had been tampered with, she said.

Howard said they were taking the step of recounting all of the ballots in an effort to be “completely, fully transparent.” The problem was due to human error, she said.

The decision will delay the reporting of about 105,000 absentee ballots that could determine whether Vice President Kamala Harris or former President Donald Trump win Wisconsin.