West Bend, WI – Washington County has completed a hand count audit of the top two races on the November 8, 2022 general election ballot.  County Clerk Ashley Reichert and County Executive Josh Schoemann asked the County Board’s Executive Committee in September to approve the Strategic Priority funds to support the audit after ballots were printed and voting machines were programmed.

The funds were approved (not to exceed $50,000) and the audit commenced December 5.

“Since 2016, around the state and country, questions surfaced about voting machine counts and we were hearing that some citizens were even contemplating staying home and giving up their right to vote until issues were addressed.  Renewing the confidence in the fidelity of the machines encourages citizens to exercise their right to vote. I supported our County Clerk’s efforts to restore confidence in the process.”

The results of the two-day audit showed only a two-vote discrepancy and cost $9300.44. If distributed among all 74,525 ballots cast, the cost was about 13 cents per voter.

County Clerk Ashley Reichert said, “this week’s tabulation reflected that the hand count results were in conformity with the Election Day results counted by the Dominion Voting System machines.”

The county executive said he does not anticipate that any future countywide hand counts would be necessary.  However, he emphasized there are other areas in the election process in need of reform:

“The purpose of the hand count was not to refute the election results, but rather to improve voter confidence. I commend our county clerk and volunteers who performed the audit, and I have confidence in their tabulation of the results.  Now we need to concentrate on other problematic practices to ensure fair elections.  For example, valid concerns have surfaced in the past regarding mobile voting sites, military absentee ballots, security of absentee drop boxes, purging the voter rolls, and ballot-harvesting activities.”

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