What an election recount would look like in Wisconsin, and who would pay

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Roughly 20,000 votes are what sparked President Donald Trump’s campaign to call for a recount in Wisconsin.

By law, an official request must be made on the first business day after final results are out.

“Then the recount would start the next day. The state has 13 days to complete the recount, so all the county boards of canvassers would have to finish the recount within approximately two weeks," said Paul Nolette, associate professor of political science at Marquette University.

Okay, so who’s paying for this?

The state would pay if the margin was less than or equal to 0.25% of the total vote.

But in this case, the Trump campaign would likely cut the check.

“Our elections officials work so Goddamn hard," said Governor Tony Evers during his media briefing on Wednesday, Nov. 4.

Evers called the president’s allegations of voter fraud irresponsible, but not unexpected.

“We had a smooth, smooth election under extremely difficult conditions such as a pandemic and for the campaign to say those types of things, it’s just more of the same BS, frankly."

He also told the president to get the recount over with so Wisconsinites could move on.

But even if it happens, political experts say it likely won’t make a difference.

“That would be a very large number of votes to move in a recount," Nolette said. "Even in the last couple of recounts we’ve seen statewide here in Wisconsin, there’s only been a couple hundred votes that have been moved at any time."

If an official recount happened and the Trump campaign was still dissatisfied, they could appeal to the state Supreme Court.

But Nolette said that unless there is true evidence of voter fraud, the case likely won’t go far.