News24.com | US elections: Trump seeks partial recount in Wisconsin


 US President Donald Trump. 

US President Donald Trump's re-election campaign said on Wednesday it was seeking a partial recount of Wisconsin's presidential election results, as part of its long-shot attempt to reverse President-elect Joe Biden's victory.

While staying out of the public eye, the Republican Trump has persisted in venting his anger on Twitter, where he made claims of election fraud, some of which were unsupported by evidence and others demonstrably untrue.

Election officials in Wisconsin, as well as in Georgia, said recounts in those states were very unlikely to reverse Trump's losses.

Trump's unfounded claims about the election having been rigged are failing in courts, but opinion polls show they have a political benefit, with as many as half of Republicans believing them, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

His campaign on Wednesday transferred $3 million to Wisconsin to cover the costs of recounting votes in Milwaukee and Dane counties, two heavily Democratic areas, less than the $7.9 million it would have cost for a full statewide recount.

Biden, the Democrat, won Wisconsin by more than 20 000 votes to lead Trump 49.5% to 48.8%.

Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell said a recount would start on Friday and finish within days. Only a few hundred votes changed in the county's recount after the 2016 presidential election, he said.

Result

“My guess would be that by focusing on Dane and Milwaukee the end result will be that Biden will have a slight increase in votes, but nothing terribly significant - certainly nothing anywhere near what would be required for changing the outcomes,” McDonell said.

Trump's refusal to concede the 3 November election is blocking the smooth transition to a new administration and complicating Biden's response to the coronavirus pandemic when he takes office on 20 January.

In the state-by-state Electoral College that determines the overall election winner, Biden captured 306 votes to the Republican Trump's 232. He won the popular vote by more than 5.8 million.

To remain in office, Trump would need to overturn results in at least three states to reach the threshold of 270 electoral votes. That would be unprecedented.

The president is also clinging to hope that a manual recount ordered by the state of Georgia can erase Biden's 14 000-vote lead there and is also challenging results in the swing state of Michigan.