Trump faces approaching deadline for recount in Wisconsin

Listen to this article

By SCOTT BAUER
Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — President Donald Trump could file for a recount in Wisconsin as soon as Tuesday, once the final county submits its certification of the election results.

All but Brown County, where Green Bay is located, had already turned in their official canvass reports ahead of Tuesday’s deadline. Based on those reports, there was minimal change to the unofficial results that showed Democrat Joe Biden beating Trump by about 22,500 votes.

After Brown County files its canvass with the state elections commission on Tuesday, Trump has until 5 p.m. Wednesday to submit the $7.9 million estimated cost for a statewide recount and other required paperwork. Trump could also file for a recount only in select counties, which would reduce his cost and allow him to target areas where votes were predominantly for Biden.

Counties would have to start the recount no later than Saturday and complete it by Dec. 1.

Past recounts both in Wisconsin and nationwide have resulted in only minor changes in the vote total. A 2016 presidential recount in Wisconsin netted Trump just 131 additional votes. Trump’s margin of victory that year, less than 23,000 votes, was similar to Biden’s win this year.

The 2016 recount was requested by Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Trump opposed the recount at the time. State law was later changed to only allow candidates within a percentage point of the winner to request recounts. Biden beat Trump by about six-tenths of a point.

Trump has been promising a recount in Wisconsin as part of fundraising pleas he’s been issuing since he lost the election to Biden. He and other Republicans have made baseless claims of fraud and irregularities in the Wisconsin election, but the state’s top elections chief and local officials have said there were no reports of widespread problems or wrongdoing.

A conservative group, True the Vote, on Monday moved to dismiss voter fraud lawsuits it had filed in Wisconsin, Georgia, Michigan and Pennsylvania after the group’s leader made baseless allegations questioning the integrity of the election.