Presidential Recount Would Cost Almost $8 Million

Tuesday, November 17th, 2020 -- 10:02 AM

(WMTV) -Although there has not been a recount request, Wisconsin’s Elections Commission is estimating the cost to be $7.9 million.

President Donald Trump would need to pay that amount to the state, since there was more than a 0.25 percent difference between the number of votes President-Elect Joe Biden received.  Unofficial tallies showed Biden leading Trump by about 0.6 percent, or about 20,500 votes.  “Our county clerks have carefully estimated their costs for recounting 3.2 million ballots, which is approximately $7.9 million,” says Meagan Wolfe, Elections Commission Administrator. “These estimates are significantly higher than the actual costs of the 2016 recount, but they take into account factors not present four years ago, including the need for larger spaces to permit public observation and social distancing, security for those spaces, the higher number of absentee ballots, a compressed timeframe over a holiday, and renting high-speed ballot scanning equipment.”

The last county canvass will be received on Tuesday. There are several counties that are outstanding and some have indicated they will not be finished before Nov. 17.  On Wednesday. President Trump has until 5 p.m. to file a recount and submit payment.  The recount would be scheduled to begin Thursday and end Dec. 1.

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