Trump Campaign Files For Partial Wisconsin Recount

The Trump Campaign filed for a partial recount in Wisconsin and has sent a wire transfer of $3 million to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. The amount for the partial recount is nearly $5 million short of the amount the commission estimated it would need upfront to initiate a statewide recount.

The deadline for filing a recount petition was 5 p.m. Wednesday.

In a news release, the Trump Campaign said it would file for a recount in just two counties — Milwaukee and Dane, two heavily Democratic counties that Joe Biden won by big margins.

"The request is for all of Milwaukee and Dane Counties. No other counties or jurisdictions were requested," Meagan Wolfe, Wisconsin’s chief election official, said in a statement. "It was filed in-person in our office today at 10:58 a.m. and appears, upon facial review, to meet all of the requirements in pairing with the payment that was received late yesterday.

"We understand the eyes of the world will be on these Wisconsin counties over the next few weeks. We remain committed to providing information about the process and assisting our county clerks by providing facts on the mechanics of a recount and status updates."

On Tuesday, the commission said it had received verified canvass statements from all 72 counties and the results had been reviewed by the commission staff but the deadline for certification is Dec. 1. The estimated cost of the recount came from the individual counties.

"These estimates are significantly higher than the actual costs of the 2016 recount, but they take into account factors not present four years ago, including the need for larger spaces to permit public observation and social distancing, security for those spaces, the higher number of absentee ballots, a compressed timeframe over a holiday, and renting high-speed ballot scanning equipment," Meagan Wolfe, Wisconsin's top election official, said in a statement.

President-elect Joe Biden is the projected winner in Wisconsin, carrying the state by more than 20,470 votes over President Donald Trump and winning its 10 Electoral College votes, according to unofficial results. In 2016, Trump won the state by a similar margin over his then Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton.

Overall, Biden is projected to win 306 Electoral College votes and Trump is projected to win 232.

According to the recount guidelines in Wisconsin, the second place candidate must pay for the recount if the margin between the two candidates is greater than 0.25 percent. The current vote difference between Trump and Biden puts the margin at 0.62 percent.

Wisconsin was the first of the so-called states part of the "blue wall" that Biden was projected to take back for Democrats on Nov. 4, the day after the election. Shortly afterwards, he was also declared the winner in Michigan, another traditional Democratic stronghold that Trump won in 2016. Biden was finally projected to be the winner the Saturday after the election after capturing Pennsylvania.

After the 5 p.m. deadline on Wednesday to file for the recount, the commission chair will issue the recount order and the county board of canvassers must reconvene for the recount by 9 a.m. Saturday. Recount results must be filed with the election commission by noon on Dec.1, the same day the election must be certified.

With the margin between Biden and Trump being over 20,000 votes, it is unlikely that a recount would alter the vote totals by a significant amount. In 2016, Green Party candidate Jill Stein filed for a recount in Wisconsin and the finals results ended with Trump adding 131 votes to his total in the state.