Biden adds to vote margin over Trump after Milwaukee County recount

A recount paid for by the Trump campaign of votes cast in Milwaukee County ended on Friday with 132 votes being added to President-elect Joe Biden’s margin of victory. 

The results came in seven days after the recount of nearly 460,000 ballots began, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. It ended with boosting Biden’s total by 257 votes, up from 317,270 to 317,527.

Trump’s final tally was raised by 125 votes for a total of 134,482.

Officials in the city of Milwaukee found 386 unopened and uncounted absentee ballots that the Board of Canvassers voted unanimously to be opened and counted, the newspaper noted. An additional 65 ballots were reported as being misplaced on Wednesday however they were not accounted for by Friday.

Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson last week said observers for Trump were objecting to nearly every ballot pulled to count.

“It’s not our job to train their observers on what they’re observing,” he said. “They clearly don’t know what they’re doing and so they keep asking questions. And we’ve said to the Trump campaign, you need to tell your people what you’re looking for here because they’re objecting to every ballot.”

On Friday, Christenson concluded the recount by calling the process “transparent and fair.”

“There was an examination of every ballot by election workers, a meticulous recounting of every ballot that was properly cast, a transparent process that allowed the public to observe, a fair process that allows the aggrieved candidate who sought the recount an opportunity to observe and object to ballots they believe should not be counted,” he said.

The president’s election campaign paid $3 million for the partial recount of the Nov. 3 election in two historically blue counties, Milwaukee and Dane.

Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell said Friday that the recount was 65 percent done and expected to be finished on Sunday.

Beginning of day 7. 65% done. Expecting to finish Sunday pic.twitter.com/mLwkgDcuYY

— Scott McDonell (@samcdonell) November 27, 2020

The outlet noted that the recounts have to be completed by Dec. 1, the deadline set by state law requiring the Elections Commission to certify the results.

Biden won Wisconsin by nearly 21,000 votes, one of several states he flipped this year after Trump won it in 2016.