Donald Trump’s campaign threatens recount in Wisconsin as Joe Biden’s team says Democrat will have ‘leads in states’ that put him over 270 electoral votes today
- President Donald Trump’s campaign said Wednesday that the president’s path to victory includes a recount in Wisconsin
- Campaign manager Bill Stepien also said Trump will do well with uncounted votes in Michigan and Pennsylvania
- Joe Biden’s campaign manager said the Democrat is ‘on track to win this election and he will be the next president of the United States’
- The vote totals in Wisconsin were close enough Wednesday morning that Trump could request a recount in the Badger State
- Republicans tightened Wisconsin’s recount rules after Green Party candidate Jill Stein paid for one in 2016
- However, that recount found few disparities in vote totals from what was reported after Election Night
- Trump’s team could also ask for a recount in Michigan, as the law allows for such if a candidate has a reasonable chance of winning
President Donald Trump’s campaign is threatening to push for a recount in Wisconsin to open up a path to victory, while Joe Biden’s team says the Democrat will have ‘leads in states’ that put him over the required 270 electoral votes to claim victory later Wednesday.
‘Joe Biden is on track to win this election and he will be the next president of the United States,’ Biden’s campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said on a livestreamed call Wednesday morning.
Trump’s campaign manager Bill Stepien told reporters on a call that the president’s path to victory includes a recount in Wisconsin and additional Trump votes in Michigan and Pennsylvania, with the Keystone State breaking for the president by greater margins than expected.
Democrat Joe Biden’s (left) and President Donald Trump’s (right) campaigns both saw paths to victory Wednesday, though Trump’s campaign believed theirs went through a recount in Wisconsin, where Biden leads
Voter lists’ books are on display in Kenosha, Wisconsin. President Donald Trump’s campaign said they could push for a recount in Wisconsin, which could open up a path to victory for the Republican
Results in Nevada are still being tallied, while the race in Georgia and North Carolina hasn’t been called, though O’Malley Dillon conceded that North Carolina was looking better for Trump.
In Wisconsin, a losing candidate can ask for a recount if the margin stays within 1 per cent, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Republicans actually tightened the Badger State’s recount rules after Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate in 2016, forced a recount then, despite only winning around 31,000 votes.
The recount amounted to few changes, with Trump winning the state by fewer than 23,000 votes.
Overall, about 3 million were cast.
Stein’s campaign had to pay for the recount too – at a cost of about $3.5 million.
State law requires election officials to finish their count by 4 p.m. Wednesday.
If the difference between Biden and Trump remains under 1 per cent – it stood at .63 per cent mid-morning Wednesday – Trump will be able to request said recount.
Biden is leading Trump in Wisconsin by a little over 20,000 votes.
In Michigan, a recount is triggered if candidates are within 2,000 votes from each other.
Before noon on Wednesday, Biden was leading by more than 32,000 votes. About 100,000 votes needed to still be counted.
Still, the Trump campaign could pay for a recount, as the law – which was also revised after Stein tried to force a Michigan recount in 2016 – allows for one if the losing candidate has a reasonable chance of winning.
Biden’s lead, however, is nearly three times as large as the votes that separated Trump and Clinton in 2016.
Trump won the state over the Democratic nominee by 10,704 votes.
The president currently leads in Pennsylania – but the biggest chunk of uncounted votes are from the Democratic urban centers of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
If it comes down to the wire, both campaigns could find it difficult to get a second count.
In 2016, Stein’s campaign found Pennsylvania’s recount laws so confusing that her lawyers didn’t know what court to file a petition in, according to Politico.