A recount in Wisconsin likely would not change current Biden lead significantly
MADISON, Wis. (CBS 58) – Joe Biden’s lead in Wisconsin of 20,470 votes is a small gap considering the nearly 3.3 million votes cast in the state – a record – but it is a monumental margin when put in the context of a recount.
The Trump campaign said Wednesday it planned to immediately file for a recount, but a formal recount request filing cannot be submitted until the municipal and county canvassing process is completed and that may take more than a week. On top of that, Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Meagan Wolfe told reporters Thursday she was not aware of any communications from the Trump campaign.
“That is indeed a high hurdle,” former Governor Scott Walker told CBS This Morning of Biden’s current lead. Walker said historically, recounts do not produce large changes in vote counts, but noted some canvassing in the past has led to that.
“Be ready for a recount, but for wait after the canvass,” Walker said.
Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell oversaw the 2016 recount that occurred in Wisconsin following a request from Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
“20,000 votes, it seems small but it’s actually huge. Our elections are extremely accurate,” McDonell told CBS 58.
McDonell agreed with Walker that the canvassing process may show some changes, but not enough to be meaningful.
“The canvass is when you might find someone entered the number in wrong, or something got missed,” McDonell said. “That’s when you might find a chunk of votes that was, you know, in the heat of an election night and an error was made one morning […] but if we actually get to a recount, mostly it’s going to be identical results.”
The Trump campaign is currently attempting to fundraise millions of dollars for legal efforts in several states as well as to pay for the recount effort in Wisconsin. If the current margin holds, the president’s team would have to pay the bill up front for the costs of the recount. In 2016, Jill Stein had to pay about $3.5 million for the recount that year.
The Trump campaign is spearheading a massive effort to finance ongoing litigation & the WI recount
— Nicole Sganga (@NicoleSganga) November 5, 2020
Corey Lewandowski & Roy Bailey told state finance chairs & bundlers on a call this morning, the goal is to raise $10 million dollars by the end of the day, per a person on the call
The Trump campaign has alleged “irregularities” for its reasoning to request a recount but has not provided any evidence or pointed to any instances it is questioning.
“They’re totally make believe, there’s no evidence for them,” Attorney General Josh Kaul said in an interview about the allegations from the Trump campaign. “We have a process we can be really proud of and it’s unfortunate seeing it attacked for political reasons.”