Based on my investigation, I can now analyze this claim about Madison, Wisconsin mailing duplicate absentee ballots.

Fact Check Analysis

The claim is TRUE. Madison, Wisconsin did mail 2,215 duplicate absentee ballots in the 2024 presidential election.

Key Evidence:

• Confirmed by city officials: Madison City Clerk Maribeth Witzel-Behl acknowledged that 2,215 duplicate ballots were sent out across 10 wards before the error was caught on Monday, September 23, 2024¹²³.
• Cause of the error: The duplicate ballots resulted from a "data processing error" during an unsuccessful file merge that copied voter files instead of merging them¹.
• Safeguards in place: The duplicate ballots have identical barcodes on their return envelopes, so even if a voter submitted two absentee ballots, only one could be counted because the voting system does not accept the same barcode twice²⁴.
• Additional protections: Once an absentee ballot is received and scanned, the voter is marked in the poll book as having voted, which prevents them from casting a second ballot¹⁴.
• No ballots returned: As of the reports, no duplicate ballots had been returned²¹.

Important context:

• The error was caught and rectified quickly, and city officials were transparent about the mistake⁴².
• Republican Congressman Tom Tiffany demanded an investigation, but election officials emphasized that the safeguards would prevent any duplicate voting⁴³.
• This occurred in September 2024, well before the November 2024 presidential election.

Overall validity: 100%

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