MADISON, Wis. (SPECTRUM NEWS) - The Wisconsin Elections Commission is laying out changes for future elections after the April 7 election.

The commission met virtually Saturday to discuss issues in the spring election. It voted to investigate the more than 100,000 absentee ballots that weren’t returned to clerks, or weren’t counted. “People were calling me, ‘what happened to my ballot? I mailed it back in, it didn’t count,’” said commissioner Mark Thomsen. “I just think to the extent that we can provide, as much detail as possible, we have an obligation to help synthesize that and get that out in the public.”

They’re also hoping to figure out exactly what happened with the thousands of absentee ballots found in tubs in Milwaukee County, never sent to the voters who requested them. The commission has sent a letter to the U.S. Postal Service, but so far hasn’t received a response.

Commissioners also discussed polling place consolidation, leading to those hours-long lines in Milwaukee and Green Bay. “I think that was excessive, and really problematic, to try to reduce by 95% the number of polling places,” said elections commission chair Dean Knudson. “What we saw was that that created congestion, it created long lines, and long wait times. And that should really be avoided in the future.”

To help prevent long lines like that going forward, they plan to try some data modeling to help local election officials determine when and where to consolidate polling places. "We could probably do some data modeling for local election officials to help them determine the turnout in various wards and locations,” said administrator Meagan Wolfe. “And compare that data with geographical locations to help inform their decisions in the future." 

The commission also voted to add tracking capabilities to absentee ballots. Individual barcodes will be added to the ballots or envelopes so people can see their ballot’s location step by step. "It would allow voters transparency into the process, to see where their ballot is at. To understand exactly where something so important is in the process,” said Wolfe. “It will also allow clerks to see if voters have received their ballots.”

Most of the commission agreed on one thing: Clerks and poll workers did their best under the circumstances.