MILWAUKEE — Paulina Gutierrez, executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, held a press conference to explain why more than 30,000 ballots would need to be rerun through machines in Milwaukee.

Gutierrez explained that an election observer noticed ballot scanners weren’t closed. Gutierrez said she, along with a Democratic representative and a Republican representative, reviewed the machines. They saw no evidence of tampering with the machines or ballots.

She said all the ballot tabulation machines were sealed, but doors were not properly closed. This caused the seals to become loose.

She said ballot tabulation machines are all password protected. Additionally, she confirmed that the only issue was with the machines, and that “ballots at no point were in any kind of position to be touched or tampered with.”

All ballots have been secured, she confirmed.

Additionally, each tabulation machine requires a specialized flash drive to be used. She said when she and a representative from each party inspected the machines, no other flash drives were found inside the machines.

Gutierrez also said that if any machine had been tampered with, it would have shut off. She said upon inspection all machines were still on, further confirming no machine had been tampered with.

“I know for a fact that these machines are highly secure,” Gutierrez said.

However, out of an abundance of caution, party and election officials decided to clear results and start the count over to ensure accuracy. All machines have been sealed and Gutierrez, along with other officials and representatives from both parties, made sure they were locked.

Gutierrez said she does not know what happened exactly that lead to the doors not being closed. She said it was due to human error.

This will add a significant amount of time to how long it will take to finish counting ballots. Gutierrez said she expects it will be late into the night, or even early in the morning, before it is finished, but did not have a more exact estimate for when that could be.

“I will always take safety, security and accuracy over speed any day,” Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez stressed ballot counting is a secure operation and the Milwaukee Election Commission has been transparent. All actions she has taken have been done with both Democratic and Republican representatives involved and poll observers watching.

Gutierrez herself will stay on site at Milwaukee central count to make sure operations go smoothly.

She did say things were moving faster than they were this morning, as workers were already in the flow of things.

“What we are seeing right now in Milwaukee is the process working,” said Milwaukee’s former election chief Claire Woodall in a video addressing the recount on X.

Woodall, who also ran central count for over a decade, added that the doors not being closed properly is only “one layer of security” and there are “multiple layers of security on every tabulator.”

“What we are seeing by them starting over is a true commitment to complete transparency, even when it’s inconvenient,” Woodall said.

She also addressed concerns over this being a “delay tactic” to hold off results until after sunrise.

“I really don’t think that to be the case. I think that Milwaukee’s central count will likely still report in the early morning hours of Wednesday,” Woodall said. “I don’t think we’re going to see a significant delay.”

The Milwaukee Election Commission released the following statement:

"This afternoon, Milwaukee Election Commission (MEC) leadership was alerted to an issue with the tabulator doors being fully in place. Each machine has a door that should have been locked and sealed. It appears some doors were not fully secured by senior election officials. The City of Milwaukee has no doubt regarding the integrity of the election. However, in order to eliminate any doubt to be fully transparent, the MEC has decided to start the tabulation process over for all ballots at Central Count. This decision was made in consultation with both Republican and Democratic officials. Approximately 31,000 ballots will be re-tabulated. As a result, the final count will be delayed. There is no estimate as to how long of a delay there will be. There is no higher priority than the accuracy of Milwaukee’s election results. We will keep the news media apprised of any further updates to this issue." 

RNC Chairman Michael Whatley and Co-Chair Lara Trump released the following statement:

“Throughout the day we have been monitoring slow ballot counting in Milwaukee. Now, our legal team has learned that the counting took place in insecure conditions and the city now has to start over, wildly extending the counting timeline. This is an unacceptable example of incompetent election administration in a key swing state: voters deserve better and we are unambiguously calling on Milwaukee’s officials to do their jobs and count ballots quickly and effectively. Anything less undermines voter confidence."