Hat tip to the On Wisconsin Outdoors folks and Peter Bernegger of Election Watch for their work on getting these details together...

On August 11, Milwaukee election workers counted 27,187 absentee ballots at Central Count. But when staff delivered the results to the county, five of the nine flash drives contained audit logs instead of vote totals. Workers returned to the counting site, exported the correct files, and the county reported its results after midnight.

A September 14 chronology compiled by Peter Bernegger of Election Watch examines the tabulator logs and other election records behind that delay. It raises questions voters deserve to see answered: Who handled the machines between the first export and the correction? Where are the records documenting the transfer of the drives? Why was no audit log included for one tabulator in the materials reviewed?

The chronology also notes that the printed ballot totals for the five affected machines were the same before and after the corrected export. That matters. The documented mistake delayed reporting; **the chronology does not establish that votes were changed**.

Election officials have an opportunity to address the remaining questions directly. Publish the available logs and custody records, explain any missing documentation, and show how the printed reports were checked against the uploaded results. Then tell voters what will change before November.

Confidence in elections grows when mistakes are acknowledged, records are available, and questions receive specific answers.