Trump faces Wednesday deadline for Wisconsin vote recount
In this April 8, 2020 file photo, a City of Milwaukee Election Commission worker processes and sorts absentee ballots for Wisconsin's primary election, in downtown Milwaukee, Wis.[Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel via AP, File]
President Donald Trump faces a Wednesday deadline to file for a recount in Wisconsin after Democrat Joe Biden defeated him in the state by more than 20,600 votes based on final canvassed totals.
The totals submitted by all 72 counties to the state elections commission showed Trump with a roughly six-tenths of a point margin — close enough for Trump to file for a recount. Biden widened his lead over Trump by 62 votes compared with unofficial totals posted by the counties before they were certified.
Trump has until 5 p.m. Wednesday to file for a recount and pay for it. If he wants a statewide recount, he will have to pay $7.9 million up front. He can also request recounts only in certain counties, which would reduce the cost. A recount would have to start no later than Saturday and be done by Dec. 1.
Recounts in Wisconsin and across the country have historically resulted in very few vote changes. A 2016 presidential recount in Wisconsin netted Trump an additional 131 votes.
Trump won Wisconsin by fewer than 23,000 votes that year and opposed the recount brought by Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
Trump and other Republicans have made claims of fraud and irregularities in the Wisconsin election, without evidence. The state’s top elections chief and local officials have said there were no substantial reports of problems or wrongdoing.