{"id":2461401,"date":"2025-07-14T14:47:01","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T18:47:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wec-boss-jacobs-doesnt-want-charges-in-madison-ballots-case-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2025-07-14T14:48:52","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T18:48:52","slug":"wec-boss-jacobs-doesnt-want-charges-in-madison-ballots-case-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wec-boss-jacobs-doesnt-want-charges-in-madison-ballots-case-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"WEC boss Jacobs doesn\u2019t want charges in Madison ballots case &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwec-boss-jacobs-doesnt-want-charges-in-madison-ballots-case-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2461401&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The head of the Wisconsin Elections Commission, Ann Jacobs, stated that she believes Madison&#8217;s former city clerk, Marybeth witzel-Behl, broke the law by not counting nearly 200 absentee ballots in the november election. However, Jacobs does not support filing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/cbp-ice-release-reports-on-border-arrests-seizures\/\" title=\"CBP, ICE release reports on border arrests, seizures\">criminal charges<\/a> in the case. She explained that Witzel-Behl should have promptly checked the ballots, notified the proper officials, and taken steps too count them. Jacobs and another commissioner found probable cause that multiple laws were violated but emphasized that only the full commission can make a final determination. Jacobs expressed concern about criminalizing clerks&#8217; mistakes, preferring that the incident serve as a learning experience to improve future election processes.She acknowledged that Madison&#8217;s election office has since corrected its errors and hopes for better management in upcoming elections.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">WEC boss Jacobs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/despite-insistence-by-democrat-politicians-and-medical-elites-empirical-evidence-does-not-conclusively-show-that-masks-reduce-the-spread-of-covid\/\" title=\"Despite Insistence by Democrat Politicians and Medical Elites, Empirical Evidence DOES NOT Conclusively Show that Masks Reduce the Spread of COVID\">doesn&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t want charges in Madison ballots case<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2173662\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>(The Center Square) &ndash;&nbsp;The head of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/wisconsin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"Wisconsin\">Wisconsin<\/a> Elections Commission says she thinks Madison&rsquo;s former city clerk broke the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/law\" title=\"\">law<\/a> when she didn&rsquo;t count nearly 200 absentee <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/voting\" title=\"\">ballots<\/a> last November.<\/p>\n<p>But Ann Jacobs doesn&rsquo;t want to see criminal charges in the case.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/3470138\/mike-lawler-epstein-debacle-colossal-waste-time-effort\/\">Mike Lawler calls Epstein debacle &lsquo;a colossal waste of time and effort&rsquo;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/washington-secrets\/3470499\/katie-couric-trump-maga-liberal-media-bias\/\">Katie Couric labels Trump&rsquo;s MAGA &lsquo;a s*** show&rsquo;: Liberal Media Scream<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3470381\/trump-biden-autopen-white-house-defended-actions\/\">Trump blasts autopen use in Biden White House after former president defended actions<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Jacobs was a guest on UpFront over the weekend, and blamed Madison&rsquo;s former clerk, Marybeth Witzel-Behl, for ignoring her job and for weakening the faith in Wisconsin&rsquo;s electoral system.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;First of all, she should have opened the bag to see if there were ballots inside. The minute she saw there were ballots inside, she needed to notify the county clerk because the county clerk was doing the county canvass, and she needed to notify her municipal board of canvassers, and they needed to take steps to count those ballots and ensure they were included,&rdquo; Jacobs explained. &ldquo;Then, after making sure that first set of ballots was included, she needed to take steps to make sure that the same mistake hadn&rsquo;t occurred elsewhere, which we now know did.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Jacobs wrote in her report on that case that she believes that Witzel-Behl broke the law in how she handled the case.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We made findings of probable cause,&rdquo; Jacobs told the hosts. &ldquo;Commissioner Mills and I, we believe there was probable cause to believe that she <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >violated multiple statutes<\/a>.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Jacobs added that only the full commission can decide whether Witzel-Behl broke the law.<\/p>\n<p>But Jacobs said that&rsquo;s as far as she&rsquo;d like to see the case go. She told the UpFront hosts that she doesn&rsquo;t want Dane County&rsquo;s district attorney or the state attorney general to file formal charges.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/3440261\/biden-autopen-use-trump-investigation-what-to-know\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">BIDEN AUTOPEN USE: WHAT TO KNOW AS TRUMP ORDERS AN INVESTIGATION INTO HIS PREDECESSOR<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not a big fan of that, but obviously it&rsquo;s up to their discretion to do that,&rdquo; Jacobs said. &lsquo;I&rsquo;m hesitant to start criminalizing the work of our clerks. A lot of things went wrong here, but I&rsquo;m not sure that criminal charges are the way to prevent this in the future. I really do think that it&rsquo;s a learning experience for our clerks across the state.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Jacobs said Witzel-Behl&rsquo;s performance after the lost ballots were found was &ldquo;astonishing.&rdquo; But she also said she is confident that Madison&rsquo;s election office has corrected its mistakes, and she is hoping for better in the next election.<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thecentersquare.com%2Fwisconsin%2Farticle_0f8f3984-eac4-40c4-84b0-7a658b4250ed.html%3Futm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_source%3Dfacebook%26utm_campaign%3Duser-share\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_2173662\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"2173662\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>WEC leader Jacobs opposes charges in Madison ballot case<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2461402,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/wisconsin-state-capitol.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[4035,59060,59061,32076,59059],"class_list":["post-2461401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-charges","tag-jacobs","tag-madison-ballots","tag-washington-examiner","tag-wec"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/wisconsin-state-capitol.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2461401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2461401"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2461401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2461405,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2461401\/revisions\/2461405"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2461402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2461401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2461401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2461401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}