Wisconsin’s completed recount confirms Biden’s victory over Trump
President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump in Wisconsin was reaffirmed on Sunday after a recount was completed in one of the state’s largest counties.
The recount in Dane County, which was requested by the Trump campaign, showed Biden won by 181,340 votes as the President-elect’s lead narrowed by 45 votes. The completed recount, along with Friday’s recount in Milwaukee County, leaves Biden poised to be the certified winner when the Wisconsin Elections Commission certifies the state’s election results on Tuesday.
Both candidates saw a decrease from their election night vote totals in Dane County, with Biden losing 91 votes, and Trump losing 46 votes in the recount, the Dane County Board of Canvassers announced Sunday. The drawdowns were mostly due to a lack of signatures on ballots, either from the voter or a witness.
On Friday, Biden saw a net gain of 132 votes as part of a recount in Milwaukee County, the only other Wisconsin county that was part of the recount requested by Trump’s campaign.
But even as the new vote totals affirm Biden’s win over Trump in the state, the President continued to peddle baseless claims of widespread voter fraud in the election during a Sunday interview on Fox News. He called Milwaukee, along with two other major cities, “among the most dishonest political places,” as he spouted off numerous conspiracy theories during the interview about a “well-coordinated attack” on his campaign.
Jenna Ellis, an attorney for the Trump campaign, disputed the legality of ballots in Dane and Milwaukee counties in a statement to CNN on Sunday, saying, without explanation, that the recounts “revealed serious issues.”
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“As we have said from the very beginning, we want every legal vote, and only legal votes to be counted,” Ellis said.
Dane County includes the state capital of Madison, the state’s second largest city and home to many college-age voters at the University of Wisconsin. Milwaukee County includes the state’s largest city, Milwaukee, and is home to the state’s largest Black population.
Dane County saw no major issues during the recount, and there are no outstanding issues to address, according to County Clerk Scott McDonell, who is also a member of the Board of Canvassers.
While announcing the results on Sunday, McDonell said it was clear from the recount that there was no voter fraud and questioned why the campaign only asked for a recount in two of Wisconsin’s counties if they believed the issue was widespread in the state.
He also tweeted a photo on Sunday of a summary of the recount with the caption “3-0 certification of Dane County recount.”
Trump tweeted Saturday afternoon that his campaign plans to challenge the results of the Wisconsin recount in court.
