It’ll cost President Donald Trump’s campaign nearly $8 million to hold a statewide recount in Wisconsin following the historic election that culminated in Democratic opponent Joe Biden’s victory.
Biden won Wisconsin by more than 20,000 votes, a state Trump won four years ago. News outlets projected Biden to win Wisconsin on November 4. The Trump campaign was quick to note plans to request a recount.
“There have been reports of irregularities in several Wisconsin counties which raise serious doubts about the validity of the results. The President is well within the threshold to request a recount and we will immediately do so,” Trump Campaign Manager Bill Stepien previously said.
A recount will cost Trump about $7.9 million, four times the cost of the recount in 2016 thanks to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Associated Press.
“We still have not received any indication that there will or will not be a recount,” Wisconsin’s chief election official Meagan Wolfe said. “But we want Wisconsin’s voters to know we are ready.”
Officials laid out a timeline indicating that a recount could begin Thursday (November 19) at the earliest, which would end December 1 at the latest. That’s if the state’s 72 counties take until Tuesday (November 17) to file canvasses. Trump would have to request the recount by 5 p.m. Wednesday (November 18), the AP reported Monday (November 16).
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