As reported here last week, a recount of the November 8 election results began on Thursday in Wisconsin, at the behest of losing Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
As of Day Three of the Wisconsin recount, the Wisconsin State Board of Elections has begun posting results as raw data in a spreadsheet. Analysis of the spreadsheet posted on December 3 reveals – not very much. There have been a number of minor clerical errors found, such that Donald Trump has gained 89 votes which he didn’t previously have, but has lost 86 which he did previously have. Clinton, on the other hand, gained 98 votes but lost 92.
The filing fee for a recount in the state of Wisconsin, which Jill Stein had to pay, is $1.1M. In addition, the State Board of Elections provided a cost estimate for the entire opertion, which also had to be paid in advance, of $3.8M. And what there is to show for it so far is a net gain for Donald J. Trump of 3 votes.
Although the secretary of State of the state of Pennsylvania had already announced that the filing deadline of November 21 was past, Stein filed a lawsuit in the state to attempt to force a recount there as well. The good news is that her campaign dropped the suit, so there will be no recount in Pennsylvania.
In the meantime, the state attorney general of Michigan has filed a countersuit trying to prevent a recount there, on the grounds that it is “expensive and frivolous.” In additon, on Friday the Trump campaign filed suit in Michigan, asking the Board of State Canvassers to reconsider its ruling permitting Stein’s petition for a recount to go forward. Trump’s attorneys argue that the Board of State Canvassers’ decision was pre-emptive, in that they didn’t wait for a petition to be filed, and also Stein has no standing because she has been unable to show that she was sufficiently aggrieved.
Just how expensive and how frivolous becomes clearer with every day this farce continues in Wisconsin. Even though this is the first time in state history that Wisconsin has undergone a presidential recount, it does seem that this effort has not been shaking up the county clerks, who are taking the effort in stride.
There were evidently no changes for Stein. The actual results can be seen here.
The deadline for completion of the recount is December 13, at which time the election results will be certified; should the recount not be completed in time, there is some doubt as to whether or not Wisconsin’s ten electoral votes will be counted at all in the total, but none whatsoever as to the actual results of the election.
Donald Trump need lose no sleep over this, as the real losers are the people who contributed to Stein’s recount fund.
And the recount goes on….so continue to sleep well, President-elect Donald Trump
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