MADISON, Wis. — A recount of votes cast in Milwaukee and Dane Counties will officially start Friday.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission approved the Trump campaign’s request for a recount during a meeting Wednesday night. The meeting lasted more than 6 hours as members of the commission laid out the groundwork for how those counties will conduct the recount. A formal recount order is expected to be issued Thursday.
Both Dane and Milwaukee Counties will now have 13 days to recount their ballots, with a deadline of December 1st. That is also the date by which Wisconsin must certify its election results.
Election canvassing results show President-elect Joe Biden won Wisconsin by a little more than 20,000 votes. Wisconsin state law allows a losing candidate to request a recount as long as the margin is 1% or less and the campaign pays for the costs of the recount. The Wisconsin Elections Commission says they received a wire transfer of $3 million to recount votes in Dane and Milwaukee Counties. A full state recount would have cost the Trump campaign close to $8 million.
On Wednesday, Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell said they will begin the recount Friday morning and will work until the recount is done.
Historically, recounts don’t drastically change vote totals. A recount of the 2016 presidential race requested by Green Party candidate Jill Stein saw President Trump add only a little more than 100 votes statewide to his winning total.
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