Madison, Wis. – Wisconsin election clerks referred 30 instances of suspected fraud and voting irregularities to prosecutors over the last year, according to a new report.

The nation’s multilayered election processes provide many safeguards that keep voter fraud generally detectable and rare, according to current and former election administrators for the Democratic and Republican parties. America’s elections also are decentralized into thousands of independent voting jurisdictions – Wisconsin, alone, has more than 1,800 local clerks – making it almost impossible to pull off a large-scale vote-rigging operation that could tip a race. But fraud does happen occasionally.

Wisconsin law requires clerks to inform the Wisconsin Election Commission whenever they refer a case of suspected fraud or some other voting irregularity to a district attorney. The commission, in turn, is required to compile the data into an annual report to the Legislature. The commission is poised to approve a report Friday that lists referrals made between July 1, 2023, and Sept. 12 of this year.

Eighteen referrals involved someone voting twice. Clerks in Milwaukee County reported seven instances of someone voting twice during the 2024 spring election and eight instances in the 2023 spring election. In each election, those people voted absentee in-person and by absentee mail ballot, according to the report.

Clerks in Douglas and Kenosha counties also reported a person voting twice in the 2024 spring election. In the Douglas County case, the person voted in-person and in-person absentee. In the Kenosha County case, the person voted in-person in two different municipalities. Clerks in Calumet County reported that someone voted twice in-person absentee in the 2024 partisan primary.

Kenosha County clerks also reported six instances of a felon registering to vote during the 2024 spring election. Polk County clerks referred a case of someone who voted in Wisconsin in the 2023 spring election after registering in another state. Douglas County also referred discrepancies between municipal and county totals for write-in candidates in the 2024 spring election to prosecutors.

The report does not identify anyone and does not include case dispositions.

The commission’s 2023 report showed that clerks referred 44 cases of suspected fraud to district attorneys between June 25, 2022, and June 30, 2023.

Wisconsin’s voting-age population stood at almost 4.7 million as of 2022, according to the elections commission.

Vice President Kamala Harris is maintaining her lead over former President Trump in Wisconsin despite Trump leading on the key issues, according to a Wednesday poll.

The new poll from Marquette Law School finds Harris leading Trump in a 52%-48% match-up. The poll also found that voters are deeply invested in the election, with 46% of respondents saying they have stopped talking to someone about politics due to the presidential race.

Marquette conducted the survey from Sept. 18-26, polling 882 Wisconsin registered voters and 798 likely voters. The poll advertises a margin of error of 4.4%.

Despite trailing in the polls, Trump leads Harris in the top issues in the race, including border security, the economy, and handling the Israel-Hamas war.

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Trump enjoys a sizable 49-37% lead over Harris on immigration. Meanwhile, 50% of Wisconsinites say he will handle the economy better than Harris, with the vice president getting just 42% support. Trump also enjoys a 45%-33% lead when it comes to Israel’s conflict in the Middle East. He also has a narrow lead over Harris when it comes to foreign relations more generally.

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Harris does have a lead over Trump in a number of other issues, however, namely abortion and election concerns. Roughly 53% of respondents said they trusted Harris to handle the former, compared to 36% for Trump. Another 49% said Harris would be better for ensuring a fair and accurate election, compared to Trump’s 39%.

Trump continues to campaign across the country as he and Harris remain neck-and-neck in national polls. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Wisconsin is among a handful of swing states that are likely to determine the outcome of the 2024 presidential election. Other states like Ohio and Pennsylvania are also critical to either a Trump or Harris victory.

Pennsylvania in particular is one of the tightest contests in the nation, where Harris leads Trump in a razor-thin 49%-47% match-up, according to new data from AARP. 

Harris holds slight leads over Trump in several key battleground states. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

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The AARP survey spoke with 1,398 likely voters in Pennsylvania and has an overall margin of error of four percentage points. 

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. (WEAU) – It has been several days since Hurricane Helen ravaged The South.

“Looking at some of the stuff that they’re talking about, the sights, the sounds and the smells, it kind of does cross your mind a little,” said Terry Schloer.

He has worked for Xcel Energy for decades. He and others from Wisconsin are using their skills to help bring relief to those impacted by power outages in Augusta, Ga.

“Knowing they’re still looking for help a week after the storm is really kind of telling its tale that there’s significant damage,” said Brad Polacek.

He is one of three managers traveling with twelve linemen that make up six crews from the Wisconsin region.

Xcel Energy is sending over a hundred workers in total from various states, which include our neighbors to the west in Minnesota.

Four of the six Wisconsin groups met in Eau Claire on Wednesday to go over the game plan before hitting the road.

“You don’t realize how important that electricity is until that light switch don’t work anymore,” said Schloer.

Our sister state WAGT/WRDW reported that thousands of linemen from various companies that come from various state are in the Peach State to help out.

Our colleagues said the category 1 storm’s damage to the Georgie Power electric grid includes:

More than 8,000 power poles

More than a thousand miles of wiring

More than 1,500 transformers.

The station also reported that of the 184,000 Georgia Power customers without power, the majority of them are in Augusta.

“There’s plenty of guys that’ll be down there helping out. These guys are going to be putting in 16 hour days. Getting lights on and fixing polls and getting wires up,” said Schloer.

The linemen heading down have had their fair share of power restoration operations.

“In our area here we’ve seen big wind events, thunderstorms, tornadoes aren’t uncommon for this area either,” said Polacek.

The crews recognize the job ahead is easier said than done.

“We’ll gladly go do it and help out. We’ll get dirty and get tired. We’ll put in some long days. But, it’s just part of it,” said Schloer.

“What we can’t lose sight of is the safety part of that. We have to make sure we take the time necessary to do what we do safely. Make sure we have zero injuries on the way there, do our work and make it back home safely,” said Polacek.

The crews from Wisconsin plan to get to Georgia by Friday and expect to work for the next couple of weeks.

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