Madison city hall during the April 2020 spring election. (Henry Redman
The progressive voting rights-focused firm Law Forward filed a class action lawsuit against the city of Madison and Dane County Thursday over the 193 absentee ballots that city election workers lost and didn’t count during the 2024 election.
The ballots were found in sealed courier bags after the Nov. 5 election and not counted even though the bags were discovered for the ballots to be added to the final vote tally. Law Forward staff said the lawsuit was filed because voters were denied their constitutional right to vote.
“The goal of this lawsuit is to reinforce and strengthen the right to vote in Wisconsin law, the right to vote is absolutely fundamental in our democracy, the cornerstone of our entire system of governance,” Jeff Mandell, Law Forward’s general counsel, said at a news conference Thursday. “Law Forward exists to defend and advance democracy in Wisconsin, standing up for the right to vote, whenever and wherever it may be violated, is a key part of Law Forward’s mission. This lawsuit is not an attack on any individual municipality or election official. It is instead a necessary and important defense of the right to vote in Wisconsin.”
Since discovering the mistake, the city has notified the public about the error and participated in an investigation into how it occurred.
Dylan Brogan, spokesperson for Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, said the city couldn’t comment on the pending litigation, but that city officials have worked to make sure the mistake isn’t repeated.
“The City of Madison takes election integrity extremely seriously,” Brogan said. “Our Clerk’s Office has issued a public apology and reached out to affected voters directly to apologize for the failure to count their absentee ballot. They have also taken a number of steps to ensure this never happens again. Ahead of the February primary, election officials were trained on new safeguards and procedures for handling absentee ballots. Internal review of the incident is still underway, and additional steps may be taken. The City is also looking forward to any additional guidance the Wisconsin Election Commission may offer to further strengthen our elections processes.”
For now, Law Forward is representing four of the voters whose ballots went uncounted, but Mandell said the remaining 189 voters would have the ability to join the lawsuit if a judge allows the class action to move forward. The suit requests that damages totalling $175,000 be paid to each affected voter — which exceeds the $50,000 limit under state law for claims against municipalities.
If all 193 voters participate and receive the full requested amount of damages, the city would be forced to pay more than $33.7 million for the error.
“The truth is the right to vote is valuable, and I think that we are in an ecosystem where standing up for the right to vote matters,” Law Forward staff counsel Scott Thompson said. “Across the country, there have been efforts to subvert the right to vote, and we believe that this litigation sends a message to anyone who might seek to do something like that. In Wisconsin, there’s going to be a price to pay.”
At a meeting on Friday, the Wisconsin Elections Commission is set to hear an update on its investigation into the issue and how the ballots were lost. Among the actions it may take, the commission could decide to issue a statement to municipal clerks across the state reminding them of the best practices when handling absentee ballots.
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