Milwaukee’s county clerk George Christenson told reporters Saturday that ballot re-tallying was proceeding more slowly than expected because of a large number of objections from observers affiliated with President Donald Trump’s campaign.
The Trump campaign lodged several wide-ranging objections to ballots when the recount began Friday, attempting to throw out votes cast during Wisconsin’s in-person early voting period and ballots cast by indefinitely confined voters. The bipartisan, three-member county boards of canvassers in both Dane and Milwaukee counties rejected those requests to exclude ballots from the recount.
Over the weekend, attorneys with the Trump campaign in Milwaukee asked that all absentee ballot envelopes in Oak Creek be pulled and sequestered, among other challenges.
"I won’t presume to try to explain their reasoning, that was their request and that’s their right," Milwaukee County clerk George Christenson said.
Trump attorneys have also asked that absentee ballot envelopes with different colored ink be set aside as well. They are also separating ballots from voters who said they are "indefinitely confined."
Christenson said things were progressing much more quickly Monday and, as of about 11:30 a.m., the Trump campaign hadn't launched any objections.
In Dane County, county clerk Scott McDonell said his workers hadn't experienced the same pushback from Trump campaign observers that was seen over the weekend in Milwaukee.
"It appears it was worse in Milwaukee," McDonell said. "We have had some problems ... that seems to have gone away. I think the (Trump campaign) legal team has a plan for how they want to handle (objections) that will keep things moving."
Both McDonell and Christenson said they expect to finish their recounts by the Dec. 1 deadline, when the Wisconsin Elections Commission is scheduled to meet to certify the state's election results. The re-tallying is expected to continue every day until then, including weekends, except for Thanksgiving Day.
"I’m the eternal optimist," Christenson said. "I would hope we’ll be done before Dec. 1. But again, we have until Dec. 1, and we’re very confident we will make that."
Milwaukee County suburbs are about a quarter of the way finished with the recount, with the following communities complete: Bayside, Brown Deer, Cudahy, Hales Corners, Greendale and Oak Creek. On Monday, the communities of Shorewood, Wauwatosa, Franklin, West Allis and Milwaukee are set to be counted.
In Dane County on Monday, workers processed ballots from DeForest, Stoughton, Oregon, Westport, Waunakee, Middleton, Fitchburg and Sun Prairie.
According to a re-tallying update provided by clerks to the Wisconsin Elections Commission on Sunday, only a small number of votes have been changed as a result of the recount.
The Trump campaign requested the recount last week, citing "illegally issued" and "illegally altered" absentee ballots across the state, arguing those things happened at particularly high levels in the state’s Democratic strongholds of Dane and Milwaukee counties.
Election officials have said for weeks there has been no evidence of fraud or irregularities in the election.
According to certified results from county clerks finalized last week, President-elect Joe Biden defeated Trump by 20,608 votes in Wisconsin.
Wisconsin's 2016 statewide presidential recount, paid for by Green Party candidate Jill Stein, resulted in a net change of 131 votes, in favor of Trump.
Recount observers affiliated with the Trump campaign have been told not to speak to the media. Jane, who agreed to talk without giving her last name, said she wanted to observe in Milwaukee because of what she referred to as voting irregularities — but after waiting an hour and a half in the cold to get into the Wisconsin Center on Monday morning, she's not sure how many more days she'll do this.
"There is just too many instances of flimflam uncovered already and I just wanted to be sure the vote was as right as it could be here," Jane said.
Jane claimed more ballots were cast in Wisconsin than there were people registered to vote in the state on Election Day. That misinformation, which spread widely on social media after Nov. 3, has been fact-checked and proven to be untrue.
Wisconsin Public Radio can be heard locally on 91.3 KUWS-FM and at wpr.org.
Wisconsin Public Radio, Copyright 2020, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and Wisconsin Educational Communications Board.
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Wisconsin presidential recount continues after weekend of conflict between officials, observers - Superior Telegram
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