Trump Campaign To File For Partial Recount In Wisconsin
President Trump's campaign announced Wednesday morning it is filing a petition to formally ask election authorities to conduct a recount in two Wisconsin counties. President-elect Joe Biden won the state by a little more than 20,000 votes.
Although Wisconsin does not have automatic recounts, state law allows a losing candidate behind by 1% to file a sworn petition, along with a filing fee. The state will only pay for a recount if the margin of victory is .25% or less.
The deadline for filing such a petition was 5 p.m. Wednesday.
In a statement, the Trump campaign repeated unfounded claims of election fraud, citing, "illegally altered absentee ballots, illegally issued absentee ballots, and illegal advice given by government officials allowing Wisconsin's Voter ID laws to be circumvented."
The campaign is asking for recounts in Milwaukee and Dane counties, which it alleges experienced the most election irregularities.
Biden's largest vote gain in the state came from Dane county, home to Madison and the University of Wisconsin, winning it by 35,000 more votes than Hillary Clinton did four years ago.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission confirmed in a tweet it had received a $3 million wire transfer from the campaign to cover the estimated cost of the recounts.
"No petition has been received yet, but the Trump campaign has told WEC staff one will be filed today," the tweet read.
Wisconsin Elections Commissioner Dean Knudson also tweeted about the cash transfer Wednesday morning.
In a Nov. 10 statement, Meagan Wolfe, the state's nonpartisan top election official, refuted the campaigns' claims of fraud, saying the election "was conducted according to law and in the open." [Copyright 2020 NPR]
