Mayor ‘appalled’ by local election fraud claims

Port Washington Mayor Marty Becker on Tuesday defended the city’s election staff after hearing from people who claimed their votes hadn’t been counted in the Nov. 3 election.

Becker said he received copies of several emails from residents who checked the myvote.wi.gov website immediately after the election to ensure their ballots had been  counted but didn’t find them recorded there.

“They said evidently this is fraud, my vote didn’t count and my vote was thrown away,” Becker said. 

It’s not fraud, he said, but simply a matter of time. It will take a couple weeks for that information to be posted on the website.

“I was appalled,” Becker said of the accusations. “To imply (City Clerk Susan Westerbeke) and her staff are dishonest, it’s appalling.

“It just takes time for the process to work.”

Becker said people don’t understand that fact, expecting instead that the information will be instantly available.

“Voting is not Amazon. Voting is not McDonald’s,” he said. “If you want it done right, it takes time.”

That’s especially true given that 92% of registered voters cast ballots, Becker said.

Ald. Paul Neumyer, who worked at the polls, said the staff is well trained and the election was conducted efficiently and professionally.

“I think people should have full confidence in it,” he said.

Westerbeke said she has received a number of calls and emails from people concerned about their votes and unhappy with the state of the election, most of whom don’t understand how the elections are run.

They don’t realize that it’s only after the election that the list of voters is scanned into the election system and posted, a process that can take several weeks, she said.

Westerbeke said voters can expect to see their online voting history updated in the next two or three weeks. However, if there is a recount, it will take longer, she said.