Wisconsin to hold partial vote recount as fuming Trump denies defeat

[webfact]

Wisconsin to hold partial vote recount as fuming Trump denies defeat

By Jarrett Renshaw and Jason Lange

 

FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump pauses as he speaks about the "Operation Warp Speed" program, the joint Defense Department and HHS initiative that has struck deals with several drugmakers in an effort to help speed up the search for effective treatments for the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, during an event in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, U.S., November 13, 2020. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo

 

WILMINGTON, Del./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's re-election campaign on Wednesday requested 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.

 

Biden, a Democrat, warned that the continued delay in recognizing him as winner could mean the United States will be "behind by weeks and months" in the preparations to distribute a coronavirus vaccine.

 

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 Trump's fellow Republicans believing them, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

 

The Wisconsin Elections Commission said it would oversee recounts in two heavily Democratic counties - Milwaukee and Dane, which includes Madison - after the Trump campaign paid the $3 million cost, less than the $7.9 million estimated cost of a statewide recount.

 

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.

 

“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.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

Gabriel Sterling, Georgia's voting system implementation manager, told journalists that as of Wednesday morning, election officials conducting the recount had reviewed 4,968,000 ballots - nearly all of those cast - and found Biden's lead over Trump had fallen to 12,781 ballots, down from 14,156 previously.

 

Sterling said there was no evidence that fraud could have changed the outcome in Georgia.

 

FALSE CLAIM ON DETROIT

Trump on Wednesday falsely claimed that the number of votes counted in heavily Democratic Detroit, the largest city in Michigan, had surpassed the number of residents.

 

"In Detroit, there are FAR MORE VOTES THAN PEOPLE. Nothing can be done to cure that giant scam. I win Michigan!" he tweeted.

 

City records show that 250,138 votes were cast there in the presidential election. That is a little more than a third of the city's population, which according to the U.S. Census Bureau is 670,031.

 

In a rare win for Trump in his legal assault on the election results, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said on Wednesday it would take up an appeal challenging thousands of mail-in votes cast in Philadelphia that were missing information on the return envelopes.

 

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

 

Biden on Wednesday held a virtual meeting with frontline healthcare workers in Delaware who complained about a lack of personal protective equipment and COVID-19 tests for themselves.

 

He warned that the delay in declaring him the election winner could mean that "soon we're going to be behind by weeks or months being able to put together the whole initiative" to distribute coronavirus vaccines when they become available.

 

The General Services Administration agency, run by a Trump appointee, has yet to formally declare an election winner. Biden's team says this is hindering coordination with the current White House coronavirus task force.

 

States face a Dec. 8 deadline to certify election results in time for the official Electoral College vote on Dec. 14.

 

Congress is scheduled to count the Electoral College votes on Jan. 6, which is normally a formality. But Trump supporters in the Senate and House of Representatives could object to the results in a final, long-shot attempt to deprive Biden of 270 electoral votes and turn the final decision over to the House.

 

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Wednesday showed about half of Republicans believe Trump "rightfully won" but the election was stolen from him.

 

Seventy-three percent of all voters polled agreed Biden won while 5% thought Trump won. But when asked specifically whether Biden had "rightfully won," 52% of Republicans said Trump rightfully won, while only 29% said Biden had rightfully won.

 

Election officials from both parties, around the United States, have said there was no evidence of vote tampering, and a federal review drew the same conclusion.

 

As he battles to save his presidency, Trump will stay in Washington over next week's Thanksgiving holiday, rather than travel to his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, a spokeswoman for first lady Melania Trump said.

 

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Delaware, Jason Lange, John Whitesides and Simon Lewis in Washington; Additional reporting by Daniel Trotta; Writing by Alistair Bell; Editing by Scott Malone and Howard Goller)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-11-19

 

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[bendejo]

I am fully expecting some sort of ballot stuffing or other skullduggery.  Team T***p has, as Worf would say, "no honor."  On the other hand, if one of these recounts goes through and it turns out he lost by "a lot" more than was originally tallied he just might have a stroke.

Maybe someone on the Dem side, independent of the Biden camp, like The Lincoln Project, should start announcing an intention to request recounts in states that went red: North Carolina perhaps.  That will certainly light a fire under his backside.

Anyone else notice that these days DT has really been heavy on the face paint, like he's been using a trowel?

 

 

[placeholder]

It's funny because the Supreme Court ruled in Gore vs. Bush that partial recounts denied the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Now Justice Scalia, being in the bag for Bush, said this precedent shouldn't be applied to future elections.

[bendejo]

15 minutes ago, placeholder said:

It's funny because the Supreme Court ruled in Gore vs. Bush that partial recounts denied the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Now Justice Scalia, being in the bag for Bush, said this precedent shouldn't be applied to future elections.

Afterwards, whenever Bush v Gore was mentioned Scalia would immediately say "get over it," like pulling the string on a doll.  He probably said it in his last breath.  You-know-who should take the advice.

 

 

[Thailand]

Not enough moneyfor a full recount?

[Seth1a2a]

6 hours ago, Thailand said:

Not enough moneyfor a full recount?

And not enough liars in his own club

 

https://apnews.com/article/election-2020-joe-biden-donald-trump-georgia-elections-281416294b5c54c6535f8ffaab4322a2

Georgia official says Republican Lindsey Graham asked him about tossing ballots 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/17/politics/chris-krebs-fired-by-trump/index.html

(CNN)President Donald Trump on Tuesday fired the Department of Homeland Security official who had rejected Trump's claims of widespread voter fraud.

 

This fake Emperor also has no clothes, but it seems that only a few people have the balls to tell him to wake up and get dressed for his own termination . 

 

 

 

__________________________________________________________

No,  You're Fired .................

 

 

[Chomper Higgot]

62 more days of feeding Trump’s malignant narcissism, 62 more days to the return of sanity and decency:

 

https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?iso=20210120T09&p0=900&msg=Inauguration+2021&font=sanserif

[Natai Beach]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

frontline healthcare workers in Delaware who complained about a lack of personal protective equipment and COVID-19 tests for themselves.

After 10 long death filled, economy destroying months the USA STILL don’t even have they basics right. 

Going into the northern winter last year nobody had covid. This year we have a head start with 500,000+ new infections everyday. Yesterday about 11,000 people died [globally]. The most ever, it is getting worse, not better. 
 

Without the necessary basic preventive measures still not in place, millions still refusing to wear masks or social distance, health workers not having PPE, half ar5ed lockdowns etc, this is just the beginning. 
 

The America’s, Europe and the Middle East are dragging everyone down with them. (90+% of covid)
Hopefully the Thai population stays safe, but even if they do, they will suffer massively economic pain, livelihoods and businesses destroyed. It is very frustrating to watch this train wreck that is largely preventable.

[Scott]

Post reported and removed.

[Walker88]

Two not-so-curious things about 45's endless childish whining.....

 

-All of the recounts he and his surrogates are demanding are in predominantly Black American precincts

 

-He has requested zero recounts and made zero claims of 'fraud' in States or areas he won

[mr mr]

so the code orange has been upgraded to code red ? 

 

 

[Emdog]

40 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

62 more days of feeding Trump’s malignant narcissism, 62 more days to the return of sanity and decency:

 

https://www.timeanddate.com/countdown/generic?iso=20210120T09&p0=900&msg=Inauguration+2021&font=sanserif

Sadly it will take far more than 62 days to return to (relative) sanity in the USA. Hard to give up crazy notions

[Katipo]

A man who steals a pack of cigarettes goes to jail. A man who let's 100's of thousands die from a pandemic, and undermines democracy in a way that will take many years to recover, he'll have a nice pension and secret service protection for the rest of his life.

[Lacessit]

3 minutes ago, Katipo said:

A man who steals a pack of cigarettes goes to jail. A man who let's 100's of thousands die from a pandemic, and undermines democracy in a way that will take many years to recover, he'll have a nice pension and secret service protection for the rest of his life.

IMO he will need all of that pension just to pay the interest on the debt he has, plus a lot more.  I would not be sure he is not going to jail once the Presidential immunity from prosecution is gone.

It would be an interesting exercise for the Secret Service to provide protection if he is in jail.

[Jingthing]

3 hours ago, Thailand said:

Not enough moneyfor a full recount?

No.

Their strategy is to turn over the election to state legislatures so that they can send electors that are the opposite of the will of the voters.

In my view, that's a coup.

That's the stuff of authoritarian dictators.

It almost definitely won't work, but the fact that the "Grand" Old Party is supporting this is horrifying.

[Eric Loh]

Maybe they should get Trump to do the counting himself or he will continue to deny.

[newatthis]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

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 Trump's fellow Republicans believing them, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Goebbels would be right at home with the Republicans: ".the rank and file are usually much more primitive than we imagine. Propaganda must therefore always be essentially simple and repetitious. " and "“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”.

[Jingthing]

4 minutes ago, newatthis said:

Goebbels would be right at home with the Republicans: ".the rank and file are usually much more primitive than we imagine. Propaganda must therefore always be essentially simple and repetitious. " and "“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”.

Yes. Obviously. For those that said, it can't happen here, watch the current white house and eat your words.

[Jingthing]

11 minutes ago, Eric Loh said:

Maybe they should get Trump to do the counting himself or he will continue to deny.

He cheats at golf. Enough said. 

[ShindenGo]

It’s not fraud you’re just losing. It’s statistically and scientifically impossible to rig an election! The only ones who were able to do it were Trump and Vladimir Putin

[Dumbastheycome]

46 minutes ago, Natai Beach said:

After 10 long death filled, economy destroying months the USA STILL don’t even have they basics right. 

Going into the northern winter last year nobody had covid. This year we have a head start with 500,000+ new infections everyday. Yesterday about 11,000 people died. The most ever, it is getting worse, not better. 
 

Without the necessary basic preventive measures still not in place, millions still refusing to wear masks or social distance, health workers not having PPE, half ar5ed lockdowns etc, this is just the beginning. 
 

The America’s, Europe and the Middle East are dragging everyone down with them. (90+% of covid)
Hopefully the Thai population stays safe, but even if they do, they will suffer massively economic pain, livelihoods and businesses destroyed. It is very frustrating to watch this train wreck that is largely preventable.

The greatest injustice is that if the ignorant led  by the deliberate infliction of deception were to be those same who were to be  eliminated by the pandemic there might be seen to be some  natural justice. Unfortunately it is not selective enough to avoid those who are almost forcibly left vulnerable due to the narcissistic deliberate failures from the top down of Trump's quite  nasty administration !

If nothing else it can only be hoped that after Trump departs and the scale of events his administration have inflicted against the proper and genuine interests of the US population are revealed that a greater degree of comprehension will occur.

IMO Trump and his inner circle are  desperate now because of their disbelief of the fact their manipulations, false  narratives and corruptions have  failed to provide an election outcome they assumed would guarantee a consecutive  term  to complete the agenda of establishing an extreme right GOP with fascist overtones with all and any profitable advantages available to the core ruling  elite,  and introducing legislative changes that as much as possible circumnavigated the core principles of the Constitution.

 

 

[Chomper Higgot]

You can’t blame Trump for trying.

 

In 62 days he leaves office and he loses his Presidential privileges a fact which must be playing on his mind, especially given NY has a Grand Jury in place examining his financial crimes... and there’s no ‘Presidential Pardon’ for State crimes.

 

I wonder if Letitia James will attend the inauguration in person of send somebody else to represent her office?

[onthedarkside]

A number of trolling posts have been removed, including one Trump illustration, and replies.

 

Posts with unsourced and unsubstantiated claims of election fraud also will be removed.

 

[Psimbo]

3 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

Maybe they should get Trump to do the counting himself or he will continue to deny.

He'd run out of fingers and toes after twenty. ????

[onthedarkside]

An unsourced quote from Donald Trump relating to the 2016 election has been removed. Quoted comments should have a weblink to an original/credible source.

 

[RocketDog]

6 hours ago, Eric Loh said:

Maybe they should get Trump to do the counting himself or he will continue to deny.

He couldn't count that high without using a sliderule. 

 

(yes, I know you can't add or subtract on a sliderule but he doesn't) 

[LawrenceN]

4 hours ago, onthedarkside said:

A number of trolling posts have been removed, including one Trump illustration, and replies.

 

Posts with unsourced and unsubstantiated claims of election fraud also will be removed.

 

Thanks. That explains it. I wondered where the usual lurking Trumpsters had gone. Unsubstantiated claims are all they've got, so *poof* gone. 

[PattayaJames]

7 hours ago, ShindenGo said:

It’s not fraud you’re just losing. It’s statistically and scientifically impossible to rig an election! The only ones who were able to do it were Trump and Vladimir Putin

 

I don't think you thought this statement through.

 

[onthedarkside]

A post with a psychologist's take on President Trump has been removed, both for violating fair use quoting provisions and because it's from an unknown media source.

 

[J Town]

The whole remaining time will be a shell game. What I really wonder is what crimes are these distractions covering up?