MI News Minute Podcasts
August 20, 2026 | By Annette Olson
Policy Issues
Accountable Government Ballot Integrity

Central Count

MacIver CEO Annette Olson gives an important lesson regarding Central Count and election integrity in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin’s citizen voters must be assured that their votes count. Central Count continues to be the core problem behind Wisconsin’s chronic election night delays, technical failures, and eroded public confidence.

The result is a high-volume operation that routinely runs deep into the night, delivering sudden batches of votes after most of the state has already reported. It has become a predictable pattern that destroys public confidence.

On August 11, Milwaukee Central Count’s long-running problems resurfaced, pushing final reporting past 1 a.m.

Most of Wisconsin processes absentee ballots at the local ward. That distributed approach keeps ballots close to the voters, makes fraud more difficult, and costs taxpayers less.

Returning absentee processing to the wards and eliminating central count will restore timely results, provide local accountability, and the election integrity Wisconsin deserves.

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