2020 Wisconsin presidential election updates: Razor-thin margin separates Biden, Trump
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President Donald Trump and Joe Biden were locked in a close race in Wisconsin as counting stretched past midnight.
The Midwestern battleground again played a key role in choosing the nation’s next president.
With nearly all votes counted, Biden had a lead early Wednesday of six-tenths of a percentage point over Trump, a margin narrow enough to allow Trump to request a recount if it stands.
It was Trump’s victory in Wisconsin four years ago that brought him the White House by breaking through the Democrats’ "blue wall," which also included Michigan and Pennsylvania.
It was also too early to tell whether Democrats would block Republicans’ push for a supermajority in the Wisconsin Legislature. Dozens of races were still in play.
Poll workers sort out early and absentee ballots at the Kenosha Municipal building on Election Day, late Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis.[AP/ Wong Maye-E]
Complete Wisconsin race results
According to ABC News, in Milwaukee County, where results started to come in at about 4 a.m. Wednesday, County Director of Elections Julietta Henry announced that 100% of votes from all 19 municipalities across the county were reported. Henry said a total of 460,300 ballots have been cast across the county. Of that, 169,519 votes were absentee ballots from the city of Milwaukee, Henry said.
Henry told ABC News the county will begin its 17-day canvassing process on Wednesday. The votes will be certified on three levels. Municipal clerks will begin certifying the votes tomorrow, then the Milwaukee County clerk will begin certifying the vote on Thursday. Then, the county clerk will submit the results to the state by Tuesday, Nov. 17.
"The process of canvassing is to verify that every single ballot that was cast is correct," Henry told ABC News.
On the final-hour influx of results from the city of Milwaukee, Henry said the county has "always expected this to take us until five o’clock."
"This process is very important," Henry said. "We want to make sure that every single person who voted in this election, their ballot was counted."
Henry told ABC News the 460,300 ballots cast for this election amounts to an 83% turnout, compared to 444,000 turnout during the 2016 general election.
On the candidates and parties potentially weighing in on the results, Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson said, "The candidates, they have to decide what they want to do" and that "we’re not interested in getting involved in that."