GREEN BAY, Wis. — The Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) is set to meet Monday to determine if former Green Bay City Clerk Celestine Jeffreys acted contrary to law and abused her discretion by issuing duplicate absentee ballots.
City officials say no voter was able to cast two votes, but the incident raised concerns about the city’s ballot‑printing process. After being placed on leave, Jeffreys resigned following a city filing that cited her role in the August mishap.
Commission staff review city response
According to a memo prepared for the meeting, WEC staff reviewed Green Bay’s answers to the commission’s inquiries. Attorney supervisor Angela O’Brien Sharpe noted that the city’s use of its Print Shop, rather than the previous method of copying onto label sheets and manually clipping originals, appears to be a significant improvement.
Sharpe wrote that the root problem in both incidents seemed to be individuals either not realizing a batch had already been sent or mistakenly believing labels were missing. Adding a second person to check address labels before re‑printing should provide an extra safeguard.
Possible next steps
Sharpe suggested the commission could order Green Bay to produce a detailed process document outlining how it will ensure the correct number of ballots are issued. She also pointed out that the WEC’s WisVote system offers reports that clerks can use to match the number of voters in a batch with the physical ballots sent.
The memo includes two draft motions. One directs staff to take any additional investigative steps deemed necessary under Wis. Stat. 5.06(4). The other proposes that the commission decide whether Jeffreys did or did not act contrary to law or abuse her discretion, and then prepare a draft decision letter and final order for review at the upcoming meeting.
The commission’s virtual session is scheduled for 9 a.m. Monday.
Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
