Poll watcher identified a problem that led to a repeat vote in Milwaukee

A pollster has identified the error that resulted in Milwaukee officials’ decision to re-run about 31,000 absentee ballots earlier today.

Milwaukee’s top elections official said the city’s election results will likely be reported in the “early morning hours” after an error at a central processing location forced a recount of 31,000 ballots.

Paulina Gutierrez, director of the Milwaukee Election Commission, said the error was discovered by a poll watcher — a member of the public who monitors election officials for the sake of transparency.

Trump criticized Milwaukee election officials for the error.

“This is an unacceptable example of incompetent election administration in a key swing state: voters deserve better and we unequivocally call on Milwaukee officials to do their job and count ballots quickly and effectively,” said RNC Chairman Michael Whatley and Co-Chair Lara Trump. in a statement.

“It’s human error,” Gutierrez said. “That is the point of the elections in the central provinces, is that it is transparent, and the observers have brought it to our attention.”