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Thursday, March 28, 2024
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The Trump campaign sent $3 million to Wisconsin to recount its two most liberal counties. Democrats call the decision “offensive.”

Trump requests recount of heavily Democratic Dane, Milwaukee counties, Elections Commission clashes on approach

The Trump campaign transferred $3 million to the state of Wisconsin Wednesday morning in order to get a partial recount of votes in liberal Dane and Milwaukee counties in hopes of overturning the election results.

President-elect Joe Biden carried those counties by a combined 364,000 votes over Trump, which were ultimately critical for Biden’s victory in the state. Biden won Wisconsin in 2020 by a similar margin — officially 20,608 votes — to Trump's victory in 2016. 

All signs point to that margin being nearly insurmountable for Trump to overcome in a recount. In the 2016 recount of Wisconsin’s presidential election requested by Green Party candidate Jill Stein, only about 1,500 total votes changed out of nearly 3 million cast, with a net gain of 151 votes for Trump. 

“This was a really clean election from an administrative point of view,” Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell said during a news conference Wednesday. “The canvas was easy and without problems — I really haven’t seen anything that would make me think this will be different than 2016.”

A full recount in Wisconsin would have cost Trump upwards of $8 million. The recount in Milwaukee County is estimated to cost about $2 million, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC), while Dane County will cost about $740,000.

“We will not stop fighting for transparency and integrity in our electoral process to ensure that all Americans can trust the results of a free and fair election in Wisconsin and across the country,” Jim Troupis, a former Dane County Circuit judge who now represents the Trump campaign, said in a statement.

The recount petition alleges “mistakes and fraud throughout Wisconsin” with an emphasis on Dane and Milwaukee counties. The mistakes and fraud alleged include municipal clerks tampering with ballots and election observers not being allowed within 30 feet of adjudicators.

Trump’s campaign also alleged a “substantial number” of people who incorrectly claimed to be “indefinitely confined” and cast absentee ballots without providing photo ID. 

However, the WEC has already pushed back the notion that clerks wrongly filled in missing information on the address section for witnesses on absentee ballots, noting that advice has been in place since October 2016. There is also already a case in front of the Supreme Court over the indefinitely confined voters.

"Obviously, I'm offended that he picks the county in the city that has the highest percentage of African Americans in the state," Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said to reporters Wednesday. “He'll go after communities of color, communities where there are lots of Democrats and he doesn't care. But he's failed before he's gonna fail again."

A marathon WEC meeting

In a contentious WEC meeting Wednesday night, the bipartisan commissioners fought for over six hours before unanimously voting to move the recount process forward in Dane and Milwaukee counties.

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The three Republicans and three Democrats clashed over nearly every issue brought up during the meeting, but especially over the manual that sets guidelines for conducting the recount during the pandemic. The commissioners painstakingly went through the manual line by line, revising what had already been written.

At one point, Republican commissioner Bob Spindell suggested that absentee ballots requested through myvote.wi.gov were invalid because of the system log. Spindell also repeatedly said he believed Wisconsin election laws are too loose, and that he believed the recount would eventually end up in court.

"I hope we haven't created a system at WEC where, you know, we somehow entice people into requesting a ballot that isn't actually in keeping with the law," Spindell said.

Democratic commissioner Mark Thomsen took issue with most of what Spindell said throughout the night, arguing that Trump was now trying to change the rules that won him election in 2016.

“You can’t say ‘I lost the Super Bowl this time, so I’m going to change the rules so I win,’” Thomsen said. “[Trump’s] accusations are straight up outrageous. The things he is complaining about now were legal in 2016, and they’re legal now.”

Democratic Commissioner Ann Jacobs said Trump’s allegation that voters were mailed ballots without requesting them was “factually bizarre.” 

“What we ought not to be doing is watering that plant of baloney,” Jacobs said.

Most of the arguments throughout the night centered around increased precautions due to the coronavirus pandemic, with Republicans arguing proper surveillance can’t be held with social distancing rules.

“Social distancing may be impossible in this recount,” Republican commissioner Dean Knudson said. “We should tell them that plexiglass is highly encouraged, but I don’t think observers will be able to perform their function if everyone is six feet apart.”

While the WEC can provide guidance to county clerks to run the recount, ultimately those clerks are the final decision makers when interpreting state statute. 

The recount will begin on Friday and is expected to run for at least 10 days before results have to be certified on Dec. 1.

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