Shortly before midnight on election night, Milwaukee election officials discovered a critical error that delayed the final results of Wisconsin’s Democrat primary for governor.
Five of the nine USB drives delivering the city’s absentee ballot totals to the Milwaukee County Election Commission contained only audit logs — not the actual vote results.
As WISN reported, this technical issue delayed the Wisconsin primary:
There will be a delay in the Milwaukee voting results for the 2026 Wisconsin primary.
The city of Milwaukee Election Commission Executive Director Paulina Gutierrez said they discovered five of the nine flash drives brought to central count had the audit log downloaded and not the results.
READ MORE: Voter Data Was Missing From 5 Milwaukee USB Sticks — Then WI's Election Night Got Even Weirder
Officials publicly described it as simple “human error”: the wrong button had been pressed when exporting data from the high-speed tabulators at the central count facility. City election workers, accompanied by a police escort, returned to the Bay View facility, re-downloaded the correct results from the machines, and brought the drives back to the county courthouse.
Roughly 15,000 of the approximately 28,000 Milwaukee absentee ballots were affected. The delay stretched the reporting timeline by more than an hour. At the moment the problem surfaced, the race remained undecided and extremely tight.
BREAKING: Milwaukee County just held a press conference to reveal that 5 USB sticks "have gone missing," and they cannot upload election results anymore.
— Gays For Trump (@GaysForTrump) August 12, 2026
David Crowley is beating Francesca Hong by 3,000 votes.
This was Steve Kornacki's reaction to the news. 😂 pic.twitter.com/t9BzrSuz7Y
The news broke in the early morning hours, as Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Crowley led rival candidate Francesca Hong by 3,000 votes. Crowley was widely viewed as the “establishment candidate” in the race versus Hong, who was aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).
Crowley, the Milwaukee County Executive, had dropped out of the race in July before re-entering with the strong backing of outgoing Gov. Tony Evers. Hong had led in the polls for weeks.
READ MORE: Shock: Dem Establishment's Crowley Defeats DSA-Backed Hong in Photo Finish Wisconsin Gov Primary
When the corrected Milwaukee numbers finally posted, Crowley held on. He ultimately prevailed statewide by a razor-thin margin of about 3,000 votes — less than half a percentage point — in an outcome almost no public poll had predicted.
Officials emphasized that the paper ballots themselves were never in question and remained available for verification. No one has alleged the machines were compromised. Yet the episode once again left the public waiting on digital export steps and USB drives at the decisive moment in a high-stakes primary.
Even accepting the official explanation of human error, the incident highlights a nagging vulnerability: Modern elections still depend on digital intermediaries that can fail under pressure or can be manipulated.
Milwaukee County uses an ImageCast Evolution system on Dominion Voting Systems machines. Ballots are scanned and tabulated by machine. Here is a description of the equipment:
Multifunctional, hybrid voting device designed to simplify the voting process by integrating optical scanning, ballot printing, and vote casting capabilities into one machine. The majority of voters will use a hand-marked paper ballot, which is then inserted into the machine for scanning. The device is equipped to identify and alert the voter of any discrepancies, ensuring that all ballots are properly completed.
To accommodate voters with visual, dexterity, or cognitive impairments, the ImageCast Evolution features an accessible audio-tactile interface. This interface allows these voters to make their selections using an electronic display, supported by an audio ballot experience that guides them through the voting process. Additionally, the system offers voters the opportunity to review their ballots for any potential mistakes before final submission, enhancing confidence in the voting process and ensuring that every vote is accurately counted.
Hand-marked paper ballots counted in public view are the clearest way to eliminate these late-night surprises. Hand-counting paper ballots does not rely on trusting software. If a machine’s software is buggy, misconfigured, or compromised, or if there is human error, the paper record would have to be checked to ensure accurate results.
As computer scientist Ron Rivest (MIT) has put it: You never want to be in a position where you have to say “I trust the election outcomes because I trust the computer.”
There are a number of advanced nations that not only enforce voter IDs, but also count all paper ballots while delivering expedited results.
- In France, paper ballots are hand-counted at each polling station immediately after polls close. Initial results and projections are typically released within one to two hours.
- In Colombia, paper ballots are hand-counted manually at more than 100,000 polling tables right after polls close, with party observers present. Results are typically reported within hours.
- In Argentina, single paper ballots are hand-counted. Results are reported within three hours of polls closing.
No more excuses. Americans deserve better elections.
