Green Bay City Clerk resigns amid repeated absentee ballot controversies

Celestine Jeffreys, Green Bay’s city clerk, announced her resignation after the Wisconsin Elections Commission opened a probe into her latest absentee-ballot mistake, which officials say likely violated election statutes. The controversy adds to a pattern of errors, such as a recent “printing error” that mailed ballots to multiple wards ahead of the August primary and a spring-election incident involving at least 152 duplicate absentee ballots.

Republican officials, including Doug Reich and Theresa Sipes, have denounced the city’s two-sentence press release as insufficient and demanded sworn documentation. Deputy clerk duties have been transferred to the assistant clerk while the council searches for a permanent successor. Jeffreys, a former council member and diversity manager, previously faced criticism for ignoring audit procedures and for her role in the 2020 “Zuckbucks” grant program linked to left-leaning voter-rights groups.