Milwaukee City Wire

The final results of the 2022 spring primary in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin stand after 58 unopened and legally cast absentee ballots were discovered after the initial primary election for alderperson in District 3 and District 8 last month.

While 32 ballots found were in District 8, 26 ballots were in District 3. The absentee ballots in District 3 had the potential of changing that election’s outcome, which initially had Patricia Stone and Joseph Makhlouf II moving onto the April election, CBS 58 said.

“After the board of canvassers counted the 58 ballots, it did not change the primary election results. The same candidates will move on for the election in April,” the City of Wauwatosa website stated. 

District 3 alderperson candidate Patricia Stone maintained her lead in the primary with 242 votes. Joseph Makhlouf II had 231 votes and incumbent Tim Hanson had 226 votes. The initial vote tally on Feb. 15 was 233 for Stone, 221 for Makhlouf and 219 for Hanson, Stone’s Facebook page said.

The city clerk’s office said that the office learned on Feb. 22 that the 58 unopened, lawfully cast absentee ballots weren’t counted in the final election results. It plans to prevent the issue from happening again.

“This was a City of Wauwatosa error,” a statement on the city’s website said. “This was a regrettable error, and we have corrected the situation and are committed to transparency in our election process.”

Among its duties, the city clerk’s office “conducts elections and reports on election results, assists with voter registration and absentee ballot requests and accepts appeals for the board of review,” the city website said.