After being quoted a sum of nearly $8 million for a statewide recount, the Trump campaign is opting for a partial recount in Wisconsin.
A recount is currently underway in Georgia already, and on three separate occasions this week counties have found thousands of previously uncounted votes. In all three cases they ended up netting additional votes for Trump. The unofficial results showed President Trump narrowly losing Georgia by 14,000 votes, and Wisconsin by about 20,000.
Of Wisconsin’s 72 counties, the Trump campaign is seeking a recount in the state’s two most populous, which account for just over a quarter of its population and 35% of Biden’s statewide vote.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
President Donald Trump is seeking a recount of ballots in Dane and Milwaukee counties, hoping to overturn the state election results in his favor despite voters there choosing President-elect Joe Biden by wide margins.
Trump’s campaign paid the state $3 million and filed a petition for the partial recount on Wednesday, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission.
The Trump campaign alleges that the Wisconsin Election Commission directed Wisconsin municipal clerks to “illegally alter incomplete absentee ballots contrary to Wisconsin law.” The campaign also alleges that the clerks were instructed they could “rely on their own personal knowledge” or on “lists or databases at his or her disposal to add missing information on returned absentee ballots.”
Wisconsin law doesn’t allow for incomplete absentee ballots to be counted.
According to the unofficial totals, Biden beat Trump 317,270 votes to 134,357 in Milwaukee County, and 260,185 to 78,800 in Dane County. Thirty-five percent of Biden’s statewide
Former Dane County Circuit Judge Jim Troupis is representing the campaign in its recount effort.
“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,” said a statement from Troupis.
Election officials previously said that a full statewide recount could be completed by December 1st, and presumably this would be much faster.
