Struggling to find ways to overturn the results of the 2020 elections, President Donald Trump’s campaign on Wednesday asked for a recount in two heavily Democratic counties in Wisconsin, hoping to find mistakes which could erase a 20,000 vote lead for President-Elect Joe Biden.
“The people of Wisconsin deserve to know whether their election processes worked in a legal and transparent way,” said Jim Troupis, a Trump campaign lawyer.
The decision came hours before a deadline set by the state, just a day after Wisconsin completed a vote canvass, confirming a 20,612 vote lead for Biden.
“This will not change the outcome of the election but will allow Trump to lose another recount,” said Democratic Party election lawyer Marc Elias.
The Trump campaign's wire transfer would be enough to request a recount in Milwaukee and Dane counties. https://t.co/kPmAOM10fY
— Wisconsin State Journal (@WiStateJournal) November 18, 2020
Instead of paying nearly $8 million for a recount in the entire state, the Trump Campaign opted to focus on Milwaukee County and Dane County (home to the state capital of Madison).
Dane County gave Biden his largest raw vote margins in the state, churning out a nearly 182,000 vote edge.
Milwaukee County was also a big winner for Biden, with a nearly identical edge of 183,000 votes.
It wasn’t immediately apparent what the recount request would show in those two counties, which have faced no real claims of election fraud, and have already been the subject of a canvass, which netted more votes for Biden.
these 2 big Democratic counties represent 35% of Biden's statewide WI vote. the canvasses in both counties resulted in very small changes: adding <50 votes to Biden totals and 13 vote to Trump totals https://t.co/t9xxXNfWgZ
— Craig Gilbert (@WisVoter) November 18, 2020
Biden’s margins in those two strongholds in 2020 offset gains by the President elsewhere in the state, flipping the 2016 result where Mr. Trump won by less than 13,000 votes.
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