- The Trump campaign is coughing up US$3 million (around A$4.1 million) to recount election votes in two Wisconsin counties
- The recount has only been requested for the Milwaukee and Dane counties, which the Trump campaign claims have the “worst irregularities”
- The campaign is citing illegally altered and issued absentee ballows and illegal Voter ID advice given by the Wisconsin government as the reason for the recount
- The recount is set to begin as early as Thursday, Wisconsin time, with official paperwork to be filed later today
- Nevertheless, recounts have historically done little to change the outcome of a vote
- A recount of Wisconsin over the 2016 election — sought by Green Party candidate Jill Stein — netted Donald Trump just 131 extra votes
The Trump campaign is coughing up US$3 million (around A$4.1 million) to recount election votes in two Wisconsin counties.
The limited recount will focus on the Milwaukee and Dane counties — locations the Trump campaign claim have the “worst irregularities” from the election.
The Trump campaign is citing “illegally altered absentee ballots, illegally issued absentee ballots, and illegal advice given by government officials allowing Wisconsin’s Vote ID laws to be circumvented” as reasons for the recount.
“The Wisconsin Elections Commission directed Wisconsin municipal clerks to illegally alter incomplete absentee ballots contrary to Wisconsin law,” the Trump campaign said in a press release.
“Clerks were instructed that they could rely on their own ‘personal knowledge,’ or unspecified ‘lists or databases at his or her disposal’ to add in missing information on returned absentee ballots,” the statement said.
On top of this, the Trump campaign claims municipal clerks across Wisconsin issued absentee ballots to voters that had never been officially requested, which goes strictly against Wisconsin law.
So far, no evidence has been presented to support these claims.
As it stands, Joe Biden has received around 577,000 votes from the two counties and Donald Trump has received around 213,000. Biden won the overall state by roughly 20,600 votes — a margin of 0.6 per cent.
This means the Trump reelection campaign is allowed to call for a recount by state law given the difference in votes was less than a per cent, as long as the campaign can cover the costs.
Trump’s campaign has paid the $4.1 million for a recount in the two key counties and will officially file the paperwork for the recount later today. The recount could begin as early as Thursday, Wisconsin time.
Jim Troupis, an adviser to President Trump, said the people of Wisconsin deserve to know whether their election processes worked in a “legal and transparent” way.
“Regrettably, the integrity of the election results cannot be trusted without a recount in these two counties and uniform enforcement of Wisconsin absentee ballot requirements,” Jim said.
“We will not know the true results of the election until only the legal ballots cast are counted.”
He said the Trump campaign will not stop fighting for transparency and integrity in the electoral process.
On top of the accusations already made by Donald Trump’s campaign, the president said in a petition for the recount that with further investigation, substantial and additional mistakes and fraud will be discovered.
Nevertheless, recounts have historically done little to change the outcome of a vote. In fact, recounts have only changed the outcome of a vote three times in the last 20 years — all of which were for local or state elections.
During the 2016 presidential election, Green Party candidate Jill Stein — who won about one per cent of the vote — sought a recount in Wisconsin. The recount netted Donald Trump 131 extra votes.