The Wisconsin Elections Commission released a timeline Monday detailing the chain of events that will take place for a presidential recount in the state, with counties slated to begin tabulating votes Thursday.
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein has spearheaded an effort to recount the votes in swing states Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania after a stunning win in all three by Republican President-elect Donald Trump.
The recount will begin Thursday if both Stein and American Delta Party candidate Rocky De La Fuente’s campaigns submit payment to the WEC on Tuesday. The estimated cost of the recount is
Stein has ordered that the recount in Wisconsin be done completely by hand. The commission unanimously declined her request in a statement permitting “each county to determine whether ballots will be counted by hand or using tabulating equipment, consistent with existing state law.”
In response, Stein and her campaign
Mark Thomsen, the Elections Commission’s chairman, said that he is not expecting the recount to change the results from the state.
"It may not be 22,177," Thomsen said in reference to Trump’s margin of victory in the state. "But I don’t doubt that the President-elect is going to win that."
Stein’s fundraising website states that the recount is "an effort to ensure the integrity of our elections" and is “not intended to help Hillary Clinton.” The website said the effort is a “part of an election integrity movement to attempt to shine a light on just how untrustworthy the U.S. election system is." A lawyer representing the Clinton campaign revealed Saturday that they will also participate in the recount for reasons of exploring the possibility of “outside interference.”
Stein has alleged tampering with the state’s voting machines from an outside source. Experts question this, however, as the state’s machines are not connected to the internet, meaning that someone would have to physically meddle with each machine, which would be very unlikely.
