A recount of presidential ballots in Wisconsin’s two largest counties have confirmed that United States Democratic President-elect, Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump in the key swing state by more than 20,000 votes.
According to the county clerk, Dane County finished its recount a few days after Milwaukee County finished its own recount with each recount producing little change in the final breakdown of the more than 800,000 ballots cast in the state.
The recounts were ordered by the Wisconsin Elections Commission after Trump paid $3m to recount ballots in the two biggest and most liberal counties in the state. Election officials accused Trump campaign observers of attempting to obstruct the recount, in some cases by challenging each ballot that was brought to be counted.
The Trump campaign alleged irregularities in the counties, but no evidence has been presented of illegal activity.
In the end, Biden’s overall lead over President Trump in Wisconsin grew by 87 votes, assuring him the state’s 10 electoral votes.
Mr Trump, who has refused to concede the election, proactively vowed to challenge the recount results in court, tweeting, “The Wisconsin recount is not about finding mistakes in the count, it is about finding people who have voted illegally, and that case will be brought after the recount is over, on Monday or Tuesday. We have found many illegal votes. Stay tuned!”
Meanwhile, the Biden campaign, in a statement said the recount “only served to reaffirm Joe Biden’s victory in Wisconsin”.
The results are the latest blow to Trump’s narrowing attempts to overturn the election.
The US state of Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court had earlier dismissed another legal challenge to the election by supporters of President Donald Trump, further reducing his already near-impossible odds of overturning the results.
A full hand recount of ballots in Georgia also maintained Biden’s victory but state is currently conducting another recount, this time using electronic tabulators, at the request of the campaign.
Mr Biden is currently projected to win 306 electoral votes, well above the threshold of 270 needed for victory under the Electoral College system. That margin means Trump would need to overturn the results in several states to change the overall outcome of the race.
In his first complete interview since Joe Biden was declared the winner of US presidential elections on November 7, President Trump said he is unlikely to abandon his claims that widespread fraud carried Biden to victory.
“It’s not like you’re gonna change my mind. My mind will not change in six months,” President Trump said, as he stated the fact the he appeared ahead in early election night results, well before many key states had even started to tabulate Democratic-leaning mail-in ballots.
Nevertheless, in the same interview, Trump expressed doubt that his countless legal challenges, which he and his team continue to appeal, would be heard by the highest court in the country.
“The problem is it’s hard to get it to the Supreme Court,” he acknowledged.
