It took seven days of counting, but Milwaukee County has completed its recount of this month’s presidential election ballots.
Around 460,000 ballots were recounted, resulting in President-elect Joe Biden’s lead in the county increasing by 132 votes of President Donald Trump.
The certified vote after the recount includes:
- Joe Biden/Kamala Harris: 317,527
- Donald Trump/Michael Pence: 134,482
- Jo Jorgensen/Jeremy Cohen: 4,342
- Brian Carroll/Amar Patel: 752
- Don Blankenship/William Mohr: 624
- Howie Hawkins/Angela Walker (write-in): 214
- Kayne West/Michelle Tidball (write-in): 107
- Gloria La Riva/Sunil Freeman (write-in): 37
- Mark Charles/Adrian Wallace (write-in): 11
- Jade Simmons/Claudeliah Roze (write-in): 6
- Kasey Wells (write-in): 3
- President R19 Boddie (write-in): 1
- SCATTERING: 1,617
Officially, Biden added 257 votes while President Trump added 212 votes.
There were several incidents where ballots were either found that were not part of the first count, or ballots that were counted during the initial count that were not found for the recount. These are reflected in the final vote total.
“We have once again demonstrated good government in Wisconsin,” says Milwaukee County Clerk George Chirstenson. He thanked everyone who took part in completing the recount, adding the circumstances caused by the COVID-19 pandemic made this recount a tougher challenge to complete compared to the 2016 presidential recount. Christenson adds the cost for the recount, which will be covered by President Trump’s campaign, should not exceed $2-million.
Both the legal teams for President Trump and President-elect Biden thanked the Milwaukee County Election Commission for their work and cooperation during the recount. President Trump’s legal team is prepared to challenge some of the absentee ballots in court.
Milwaukee County Election Commissioner Rick Baas says from this point on, their job is done. “Now there is evidence that will be taken to another level, and it will be reviewed there. But as this body had conducted itself in a manner that is exemplary.”
The other county that is conducting a recount of presidential votes in Wisconsin is Dane. Officials there say they plan to complete their count on Sunday. That is two days before the official deadline of December 1.
