In Milwaukee, Eric Hovde and his followers have every reason to believe something is wrong.  ,
The usual offenders in the advertising media have, of course, quickly criticized the Wisconsin Republican Senate candidate for raising valid concerns about Milwaukee’s delayed, late-night voting matter, which once again gave the Democrat member just enough votes to win a close election.
But as The Federalist has reported, leftist-led Milwaukee’s talent for utter incompetence and dubious election leadership has badly bruised conservatives ‘ belief in free, fair and open elections in Wisconsin’s largest city. Election Day ( and into the day after ) 2024 was no exception.  ,
Hovde, a businessman from Madison, and Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, were in a running mate, so the Associated Press did n’t name the Madison liberal until the day after the election. As it stands, the illegal voting rely on Wednesday showed Baldwin bested Hovde by some 29, 000 votes out of more than 3.34 million votes cast, a percentage of only 0.9 percent.  ,
As of Wednesday evening, Hovde had not yet conceded. He stated earlier this week that he is considering his options but wo n’t take a decision until the statewide vote’s official canvass is finished this week. The Republican opponent has the right to request a tell, but his battle would have to pay for it.  ,
He claimed in a video message posted on his X bill on Tuesday that the Democrat enclave’s election administration had” shocked” Milwaukee and that the Democratic enclave’s election system had” troubled trust in swing state Wisconsin votes.”  ,
Does n’t Add Up
At 1 a. m. Wednesday, five days after the elections closed on Election Day, Team Hovde was in a celebratory mood. The figures appeared to be accurate. He was receiving names of gratitude. However, the bird was present, counting hundreds of thousands of absentee ballots carefully.  ,
In the movie, Hovde said Milwaukee reported about 108, 000 absentee ballots with an enormous majority going to Baldwin. He said “nearly 90 percentage”. It was closer to 82 percent, according to reports, not unheard of in a Dem-heavy city, but Hovde said the absentee numbers did n’t track with the 22 percent support he drew from Election Day votes. Unsaid and dismissed by business media sources, was the fact that, by GOP records, Republicans did a much better job this vote in narrowing the yawning gap in the early-vote vote fight, usually dominated by Democrats.  ,
Hovde noted other voter inconsistencies, such as some Milwaukee voting districts that have disproportionately high voter turnout rates. Election Day observers reported to The Federalist that they were seeing a remarkable number of same-day registered voters on Election Day. In Wisconsin, unlike many other states, residents may register to vote on the day of the election.  ,
” I was on the northwest side of Milwaukee and it was huge” , , state Rep. Janel Brandtjen, a Milwaukee-area Republican, told The Federalist Wednesday on the” Vicki McKenna Show”. ” I had some chief inspectors tell me that just about everybody who voted ]on Election Day ] did same-day voting. In the rain, parts of Milwaukee’s northwest side were all parked outside the [voting site ] door, displaying same-day registration forms.
Hovde said some other numbers do n’t seem to add up — by comparison.  ,
” Additionally, in 2020, President Biden received 10 million more votes than Vice President Harris did last Tuesday. Even though Milwaukee’s population has declined, registered voters have decreased by 26, 330, and early voting has been conducted, Harris has received only 1,100 votes, which is in line with most major cities, according to the Senate candidate. This was achieved by” same-day registration, which increased by almost 50 % on a rainy day.”
According to federal election commission records, Biden has received 81.28 million votes. As of Wednesday, the unofficial count had Harris collecting about 72.5 million. President-elect Donald Trump led Harris by more than 3 million votes Wednesday, with some ballots left to be counted in some states. Trump won Wisconsin by less than 30, 000 votes, about the number Hovde lost by.  ,
‘ Worst They’ve Ever Seen’
As reported, Milwaukee’s Central Count operations were marred with all kinds of problems on Election Day. Brandtjen and other observers informed The Federalist that Milwaukee elections chief Paulina Gutierrez did n’t start voting at 7 a.m. when the polls opened until 9:40 a.m.
” At 9 o’clock they realized they had n’t plugged the machines in. They also realized at about 8: 30 or 9 o’clock that they do n’t have enough people]poll workers], so now they’re calling firefighters”, Brandtjen said. City officials reportedly had to bring in as many as 40 firefighters, health workers, and IT employees to assist in the ballot recount.  ,
By 11 a. m., Brandtjen said, Central Count had processed just 5, 000 absentee ballots out of the 108, 000 mountain of early votes to be counted. Mid-afternoon, Republican observers noticed the seals on the machines had been broken, not locked as they should have been at that point.  ,
As a result of concerns raised about ballot security and integrity, Milwaukee election officials were forced to remove more than 30 000 ballots and turn the count over. The count of the ballots dragged on incessantly.  ,
Brandtjen claimed she never witnessed any of the 13 different speed counters operating simultaneously.  ,
The lawmaker said, “[T]he is a plan to go as late as possible to ensure there are only a half-dozen people left in the room.” ” All of these things just make the process go away completely without any confidence.” For those who have done it multiple years, it was the worst they’ve ever seen” . ,
That’s saying something. The 2020 election was marked by all manner of irregularities, delays, and mishaps in Milwaukee.  ,
Milwaukee should finish ballot counting at 3 or 4 in the morning, according to Brandtjen.  ,
” To go late, I think, is a plan to see if there is a way to find additional allots or make up the difference for candidates”, she said.  ,
Gutierrez did not return The Federalist’s request for comment.  ,
‘ It’s So Mammoth ‘
Republican representative from the Wisconsin Elections Commission Robert Spindell concurred that Central Count had too many issues that should have never occurred and that the program’s producers “wanted the results from Central Count to come in very late.”
Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson told The Federalist that he does n’t believe there was anything nefarious behind Milwaukee’s latest election mess, but he does think election administrators were “grossly incompetent” . ,
But Hovde said the problem is bigger than Milwaukee. He made note of the nearly 8 million names on a state’s voter rolls, which has less than 6 million people in it. The database includes more than 3.6 million “active” voters, eligible voters cleared to vote in elections.  ,
Spindell said Hovde is right, and Wisconsin’s voter rolls are long overdue for a thorough outside audit.  ,
” No one can handle it with their hands.” It’s so mammoth”, the commissioner told me in an interview Wednesday evening. ” We’ve found all sorts of discrepancies. Some have answers, some do n’t” . ,
The outcome would be different, I predict.
Did Milwaukee’s Election Day mess and the state’s dirty voter rolls cost Republicans another seat in the U. S. Senate? Hovde has his concerns but said a recount would n’t allow for a “look at the integrity of a ballot” . ,
In the video, Hovde claimed that Democrats funded and organized a phony” American First” candidate, Thomas Leager, to trick voters into believing that they were supporting President Trump in order to steal votes from me.  ,
Leager’s Democrat background provided Baldwin supporters with a respectable return on investment. He told the Associated Press that he was recruited to run by the conservative-sounding, purportedly Trump-supporting Patriots Run Project. Turns out the organization is” supported by Democratic donors and corporations who worked to install a number of independent candidates for President Trump in significant House races.” Most of them were disabled, retired or both”, according to AP.  ,
And then AP predicted:” While the strategy has n’t always worked, Leager is among the candidates who qualified for the Nov. 5 ballot and could complicate Republicans ‘ efforts to reclaim the Senate”.
Leager picked off 28, 724 votes, ballots not likely to have gone to Baldwin. In a snotty story challenging Hovde’s claims, taxpayer-funded Wisconsin Public Radio noted that Leager’s total was “less than Baldwin’s 29, 116 vote margin of victory”. It was. By less than 400 votes. That minor adjustment would have made Hovde’s recounting process much simpler.  ,
In the Senate race, legendary political candidate Phil Anderson ran as a Libertarian and a Republican without a label. Anderson received 42, 344 votes.  ,
The outcome would have been different today, Hovde said, “if either of these candidates had not been in the race.”  ,
Democrats played the margins game with other candidates. They successfully attempted to remove Robert F. Kennedy Jr. from the ballot, but they were successful in doing so. Kennedy siphoned votes from Trump, Stein sapped votes from Harris. Democrats won an election challenge in 2020, which undoubtedly helped Democrat presidential candidate Joe Biden defeat Trump in the end.  ,
” Is this right and fair to deceive voters? Do we want this kind of democratic process? Confidence in our elections is essential to a functioning democracy”, Hovde said. ” It’s one thing that TV ads that pretend I’m a Californian or that I want to outlaw abortion or beer lie to voters,” Another way to fund and select a phony candidate to sway voters
Does Not Encourage Confidence
Hovde was criticized by Democrats and their supporters in the corporate media for questioning Baldwin’s election results and for not giving in. Hovde acknowledged that the election results have left him with” the most painful loss” he has ever experienced in an interview with NewsTalk 1130 WISN in Milwaukee on Tuesday.
Hovde’s campaign has not returned The Federalist’s requests for comment.  ,
Hovde was accused of” spreading lies from the darkest corners of the internet to undermine our free and fair elections.”
” Wisconsin voters made their voices heard”, Baldwin wrote on her X account. ” It’s time for Hovde to stop this disgusting attack on our democracy and concede” . ,
However, Wisconsin voters who have witnessed too many election shenanigans in the last few years, particularly in Milwaukee, are understandably concerned about the most recent round of suspect political activity in the most recent high-stakes election.
In the video, Hovde stated,” What happened in this election does not inspire confidence in our process, and that is wrong.”  ,
For more election news and updates, visit , electionbriefing.com.
The Federalist’s senior elections correspondent, Matt Kittle, is. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.
