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Wisconsin election runs mostly smoothly, despite bomb threats

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Wisconsin election runs mostly smoothly, despite bomb threats


Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for Votebeat Wisconsin’s free newsletter here.

Polls closed across Wisconsin after an Election Day marked most notably by a human error in Milwaukee that prompted city election officials to count 31,000 absentee ballots all over again, potentially delaying the state’s unofficial results for hours.

In other areas around the state, problems appeared minimal despite long lines and rain. Some election officials said they had unprecedented turnout but managed it. Madison received bomb threats, likely originating from Russia, directed at several current and former polling places, but city police didn’t deem the threats credible and didn’t interrupt voting because of them.

By 9 p.m., election officials had already tabulated around 1.4 million absentee and in-person ballots across the state.

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Unlocked tabulator doors prompt decision to count ballots again

In Milwaukee, election chief Paulina Gutiérrez projected that the city’s counting of absentee ballots would go well into Wednesday morning, partially a result of her decision Tuesday afternoon to make election workers count 31,000 absentee ballots all over again because some staff didn’t lock tabulator doors in the early morning.

For security reasons, those panel doors — which cover the on/off switch and sometimes a slot for USB drives — are to be locked during counting, though other security measures ensured there was no chance of tampering.

The decision to restart the count, city spokesperson Jeff Fleming said, was “out of an abundance of caution.”

Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe said the commission didn’t weigh in on the city’s decision to rerun the batch of ballots, but she praised the city’s transparency throughout the process.

After Gutiérrez made that decision, the city put out an all-call to every Milwaukee employee to help election officials count the ballots that had already been tabulated. Between 30 and 50 city staff from health, fire, and other departments came to help, city spokesperson Caroline Reinwald said.

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“Things are moving really smoothly right now and quickly, so hopefully this isn’t actually that much of a delay,” she said.

But Republican leaders criticized the oversight that led to the second count. U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin called Milwaukee’s central count “grotesquely disorganized.” State GOP Chair Brian Schimming said about election officials, “You had one job,” adding that the election operation had gone “ridiculously wrong.”

Johnson said his concerns about Milwaukee election officials’ oversight could be alleviated if they present him video logs of the central counting site as well as records from the initial and second count of the 31,000 absentee ballots, including how they’re split by party. There are video streams of central count, but vote totals weren’t exported in the manner that Johnson was seeking, though each vote has a paper trail, city officials stated.

Milwaukee officials had counted 64,000 absentee ballots of around 108,000 total by 8:30 p.m., including the initial batch of ballots that was rerun through tabulators.

Under Milwaukee rules, all of the city’s ballots are processed and tabulated at one central location. State law doesn’t allow election officials to tabulate or process any ballots before Election Day, a policy that is partially responsible for the typically late reporting of results from absentee ballots.

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A bipartisan group of lawmakers tried to change that policy this past legislative session, but the Republican-written proposal to allow some ballot processing on the Monday before an election stalled in the Senate.

“It certainly seems like, if we did have laws that were a little bit different, that allowed pre-processing, like the majority of other states, that potentially we could have unofficial results earlier in the evening,” Wolfe said.

Election Day in Milwaukee was also marked by a lawsuit filed by the Republican National Committee, alleging that GOP election observers were being restricted at city election sites. The GOP walked back its claims at a Tuesday hearing, conceding there weren’t any issues.

Hoax bomb threat doesn’t disrupt voting

Outside of Milwaukee, election officials faced few issues.

The Madison Police Department received bomb threats for several current and former polling sites via several emails that appeared to be from an automated bot, perhaps linked to Russia, city spokesperson Dylan Brogan said. Police immediately thought they were bogus, and voting wasn’t disrupted at any voting location, Brogan said, though they followed up to make sure everything was fine.

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In Thornapple, a northern Wisconsin town that faced a Justice Department lawsuit over its decision not to use accessible voting machines in the past, election officials did have a voting machine in use, said Erin Webster, a local resident who was an election observer on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, by 9 p.m., Wisconsin voters appeared overwhelmingly in support of a constitutional amendment to ban voting by noncitizens across Wisconsin. The amendment would have little practical effect on who can vote under existing laws, but it would bar municipalities from opening their local elections to noncitizens or younger voters.

The state had a surge of early in-person voting, but election officials said that Tuesday was still very busy. Melissa Kono, who has been a clerk in the small northern Wisconsin town of Burnside since 2013, said it was the most intense election she had ever administered in terms of turnout.

Alexander Shur is a reporter for Votebeat based in Wisconsin. Contact Alexander at ashur@votebeat.org.



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Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee man killed, family heartbroken before the holidays: 'He didn’t deserve this'

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Milwaukee man killed, family heartbroken before the holidays: 'He didn’t deserve this'


Nasif Bowie (photo provided by family)

Heartbroken before the holidays, the family of a 25-year-old Milwaukee man is looking for justice after he was shot and killed Thursday night on the city’s northwest side.

Loved ones of Nasif Bowie told FOX6 News he was near Houston and Congress celebrating a “Friendsgiving” when someone shot both him and his friend. They want the person responsible to be arrested.

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“I never imagined nothing like this would happen to him, ever,” said Rickell Lovley, Bowie’s sister. “He didn’t deserve this. He had so many people who cared about him.”

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Police said the shooting happened just before 9:30 p.m. One person – since identified as Bowie – died at the scene. A 23-year-old was seriously wounded.

Scene at Houston and Congress, Milwaukee

“He had such a bright future,” said friend Zarieanna McCoy. “He really was on his business. He went to school, got his degree, he wanted to go into real estate, he was doing a notary business.”

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Family members said there are still a lot of unanswered questions.

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“He was just at the wrong place, wrong person there at the time,” Lovley said.

Saturday, loved ones returned to the area and sent off a sea of balloons and a swarm of goodbyes. McCoy said the prayer now is to find the person responsible.

“Just really hoping that we can get justice for him and his family,” she said.

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Balloon release for Nasif Bowie near Houston and Congress

They are balancing that plea for accountability with the pain of trying to understand their loss.

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“He didn’t deserve this,” Lovley said. “I’m so sorry that this happened to him.”

At last check, police are still looking for whoever is responsible. Anyone with information is asked to call MPD at 414-935-7360; to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at 414-224-TIPS or use the P3 tips app.



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Milwaukee, WI

USS Beloit naval warship commissioned in Milwaukee

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USS Beloit naval warship commissioned in Milwaukee


A new naval warship was commissioned at Milwaukee’s Veterans Park on Saturday, Nov. 23.

The USS Beloit, a littoral combat ship (LCS), is roughly 380 feet long and will house 88 crew members. Ships of this kind are made up in Marinette, Wisconsin. They cost roughly $500 million to build.

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As the ship’s sponsor, retired Army Maj. Gen. Marcia M. Anderson will lead the time-honored Navy tradition of giving the order during the ceremony to “Man our ship and bring her to life!” At that moment, the commissioning pennant is hoisted, and the Beloit becomes a proud ship of the fleet.

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This is the first naval ship to be named after the Wisconsin city, Beloit. 

Once it is commissioned, the USS Beloit will call Jacksonville, Florida its home port.



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Milwaukee, WI

NBA Cup: Giannis Antetokounmpo stars as Milwaukee Bucks win again

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NBA Cup: Giannis Antetokounmpo stars as Milwaukee Bucks win again


Giannis Antetokounmpo recorded his second triple-double of the season as the Milwaukee Bucks led wire-to-wire to beat the visiting Indiana Pacers.

The NBA’s two-time Most Valuable Player claimed 37 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists as the Bucks won 129-117 on Friday to improve to a 2-0 record in the NBA Cup.

Damian Lillard added 24 points and 13 assists for his third straight double-double, and the result means Milwaukee have won five of their last six since opening the season with a 2-8 record.

They had six players in double figures for points, with Antetokounmpo, 29, recording his 47th career triple-double.

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Jaylen Brown had 31 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Boston Celtics to a 108-96 win at the stubborn Washington Wizards.

Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday added 16 points each for last season’s NBA champions, who have won three straight overall and are 2-1 in the NBA Cup.

James Harden had 22 points and nine assists as the Los Angeles Clippers extended their winning streak to four games with a 104-88 victory against the visiting Sacramento Kings.

The Clippers were without leading scorer Norman Powell because of a hamstring strain and are now 1-1 in the in-season tournament, which concludes next month with the semi-finals and championship game being played in Las Vegas.

Last season’s MVP Nikola Jokic returned for the Denver Nuggets after missing three games for the birth of his second child and had a triple-double of 33 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists.

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However, that was not enough to stop the Nuggets losing 123-120 at home to the Dallas Mavericks, for whom Naji Marshall scored a career-high 26 points in the absence of Luka Doncic, who will miss at least four games because of a wrist injury.

Jared McCain declared to the crowd that he is “the rookie of the year” after scoring a three-pointer in the Philadelphia 76ers’ 113-98 win over the visiting Brooklyn Nets.

The 20-year-old, who was the 16th overall draft pick in June, scored 30 points as the Sixers halted a five-game losing streak, despite playing without Joel Embiid and Paul George.

McCain posted his seventh consecutive game scoring 20-plus points, joining Embiid, Allen Iverson, Jerry Stackhouse and Lee Shaffer as the only rookies in franchise history to accomplish that feat,



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