FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A postal worker reportedly discovered three tubs full of absentee ballots intended for voters from Oshkosh and Appleton on Wednesday – that’s according to State Senator Dan Feyen.
Feyen believes the ballots were not delivered to voters prior to the election – and hopes to give the voters a chance to have their ballots counted. Feyen is working with the Wisconsin Elections Commission to figure out how to handle the situation.
WTAQ News has reached out to Senator Feyen for comment. While we wait for a call, Feyen’s office provided a comment saying:
“These people were responsible and requested ballots weeks ahead of the deadline and, through no fault of their own, weren’t sent ballots. I am expecting the Elections Commission to ask the courts to allow these ballots to be delivered, cast, and counted.”
It’s unclear how or exactly where the ballots were discovered. There have been numerous reports from voters around the Fox Valley who have claimed to have never received an absentee ballot, despite requesting the ballot weeks in advance. Several have cited March 24th as the date they submitted the request before failing to receive a ballot.
“We had over 10,000 ballot requests that we mailed out. But around March 30th, we started getting calls from residents that they hadn’t received them. Our records show that they had been sent out, so we inquired with the postal service,” says Oshkosh City Manager Mark Rohloff, “They were looking. We didn’t hear back from any confirmation that they had found anything. So we’re anxious to see what this report comes up with.”
After learning of the discovery of undelivered absentee ballots, Senator Dan Feyen released the following statement:
“After logging a complaint with the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) on behalf of my constituents, I learned the WEC received a call from a postal service worker informing them three large tubs of absentee ballots from voters in Oshkosh and Appleton, were just located.
Although, we are unsure at this moment how this could have happened, I want to assure my constituents I am working with the Elections Commission and will be posting more guidance for those of you who never received your ballot in the mail.
I understand your frustration and am working hard to try to remedy the situation.”
The Wisconsin Elections Commission is now expected to meet to discuss Feyen’s complaint.
“If they’re marking it as sent, that means that they’ve sent it. They put it into the Post Office box and sent out that ballot,” says WEC Administrator Meagan Wolfe, “If somebody was sent the ballot, and it has not been received – that would most likely be on the Postal Service side.”
But Wolfe adds that she is not aware of any provision in state law that would allow ballots to be counted if they were postmarked after election day.
