Northern Wisconsin Primary Candidate Speaks on Ballot Issues

Northern Wisconsin primary candidate Scott Harbridge criticized the Wisconsin Election Commission after a ballot mistake on Tuesday.

Harbridge was running in the Republican primary for Wisconsin’s 74th Assembly District, losing the election to incumbent State Representative Chanz Green on Tuesday. Green ended up with about 57% of the votes in the district to Harbridge’s 43%.

However, a mistake led to the listing of the incorrect Assembly district on the ballot in the Township of Summit. It appears the mistake occurred amid confusion over the newly redrawn districts, with the Assembly race showing on the ballot as the 73rd Assembly District rather than the 74th Assembly District.

Following the election, Douglas County officials determined that the margin by which State Representative Green won was wide enough not to trigger a recount in the district. According to a Northern News Now report, the northern Wisconsin Town had about 700 registered voters, 190 of whom showed up to the polls on Tuesday. Green defeated Harbridge by about 1,000 votes. All of the other elections on the ballot in the town appeared correctly.

In a statement on Wednesday, Harbridge said he was not conceding yet and was exploring his options following the error. He also said “We need to get rid of the WEC. The clerks need to manage their voter rolls and print their own ballots locally, not in another state. Paper ballots, hand counted, one day, small precincts and no machines.”

Wisconsin Election Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe said state laws do not provide for a roadmap for what happens following that kind of error. She also said the WEC would not be able to weigh in on the process without legal action being filed. She says local and county officials will have authority over what happens next.