Missouri Secretary of State working to get the numbers correct

Wisconsin’s presidential primary election on April 7 is serving as an example of what state politicians want to avoid for an election taking place during a pandemic. 

Across the state there were fewer polling locations than normal. In Milwaukee, there were only five polling locations for a population of almost 600,000.

This was concerning because fewer polling locations means more people had to come together to vote. The state was under a stay-at-home order to reduce the spread of COVID-19, and the governor has extended the order until at least May 26.

Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft has called Wisconsin officials' handling of the situation "ludicrous." But it appears he has been inconsistent with the numbers he reports. 

One week after the Wisconsin election, he went on St. Louis radio station 97.1 FM to talk about Missouri’s June 2 election. He said his state could handle things better and still keep in-person elections.

He used Milwaukee as his prime example of how in-person voting went wrong in Wisconsin. 

"When you look at Wisconsin, in their largest city they normally have roughly 500 polling places, and when they just had their election a week or two ago they had five," Ashcroft said. "That is ludicrous."  

It’s not the only time Ashcroft has changed the numbers. 

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What are the real numbers? Executive director of Milwaukee’s election commission, Neil Albrecht, confirmed that for a typical election the city has 180 polling places.

In Wisconsin’s most recent election it was reduced to five polling places. The reduction in polling places was the result of fewer people volunteering to be poll workers.

Fifty-two people across Wisconsin who had been at the polls on election day have tested positive for COVID-19. It can’t be confirmed, however, that they were exposed at the polls. 

A little over a week after Ashcroft stated that Milwaukee typically has 500 polling places, he went on St. Louis Public Radio and gave the correct number, 180. In the same breath, however, he then reported that Milwaukee had reduced the number of polling places for the April 7 election to four, off from the five that were really available. 

While a difference of one may not seem like a lot, the error going from five to four is 20%.

The director of communications for the Secretary of State’s Office acknowledged that Ashcroft misspoke in both instances.  

Ashcroft said that for the April 7 presidential primary, Milwaukee would "normally have roughly 500 polling places. They just had their election a week ago, and they had five." 

He exaggerated the number of usual polling places by a lot, but he is correct about the number of reduced in-person locations. 

His claim is partially accurate, so we rate it Half True.