Recount Shakes the Faith of Wisconsin Voters

President Donald Trump’s campaign spent $3 million to hold a recount in Wisconsin’s two most heavily Democratic counties. In the end, Joe Biden’s margin of victory rose by 87 votes, no evidence of voter fraud was found, and faith in the electoral process was undermined.

On Friday, Nov. 27, the seventh and final day of the recount in Milwaukee, a team of about 25 people finished entering voting data into laptop computers on the third floor of the Wisconsin Center. The massive room was empty compared to days before, when more than 3,600 community members visited to watch poll workers check ballots behind plexiglass barriers. 

“Ideally, we would all be sheltered in place and not interacting with anyone outside of our households,” said Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson.

At 5:00 p.m., the Wisconsin Election Commission announced at a press conference that Joe Biden’s vote count increased by 257 votes and officials found no evidence of fraud.

“The recount demonstrated what we already know: The elections in Milwaukee County are fair, transparent, accurate and secure,” said Christenson.

Hallelujah, it’s the last day.

Wisconsin Election Commissioner Dawn Martin

Nevertheless, the Trump campaign filed a lawsuit to disqualify 238,420 ballots cast in Dane and Milwaukee counties, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel analysis. Some experts and community leaders worry that the election-fraud rhetoric and litigation could discredit the voting process and have serious repercussions in Wisconsin.

Recount undermines faith in the voting process

According to the Nov. 18 petition filed by the Trump campaign, any ballots cast in person before Election Day should be disqualified. Christ Troupis, representative for Trump’s campaign, told the Dane County Board of Canvassers that it should eliminate all in-person early votes and all mailed-in absentee ballots if written applications for them could not be tracked down.

This logic directly contradicts the president’s message at an Oct. 17 rally in Janesville, Wis. Trump told the crowd, “Early voting begins on Tuesday, so get out and vote.”

“It’s a ridiculous exercise and all it does is undermine the faith of the public in the election,” said conservative James Widgerson, editor in chief of RightWisconsin.com. “These wild allegations of massive fraud are just merely attempts to smear the electoral system for whatever personal benefit Donald Trump derives.”

Conservative Rick Esenberg, president of the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL), said it upsets him when people claim massive voter fraud without evidence.

“It undercuts not only credibility in the system but also undercuts credibility of people who are raising legitimate issues,” Esenberg said.

According to Rick Baas, the only Republican on the commission, the recount sheds light on defective statues. 

“I believe the state needs to clean up the election laws,” said Baas. “Eliminate some of the ability for functionaries in the government to change election law out of an ad hoc approach because there’s an emergency.”

Baas’ Democratic counterpart, Christenson, said the voting process in Milwaukee County is accurate.

“I would hope that this would foster additional trust in our system. We have several audits as we go to make sure that voters feel that their system works and their vote counts,” he said.

Recount Seen as Effort to Disenfranchise Voters

Many Wisconsin voters now feel that their votes are being targeted. Around 42% of Milwaukee County’s population is Black or Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, leading some to believe that Trump’s decision to request a recount here is an attack on black and brown votes.

“I think it clearly was targeted at communities of color and I think it’s awful,” said Christenson. “I think the cherry picking of attacking Milwaukee County is a clear indication that they are targeting communities of color.”

Don’t misunderstand, recounting is fine. But when you target your recount, we have issues.

protester Calena Roberts

An hour before the recount in Milwaukee County was scheduled to begin, protestors from the get-out-the-vote organization Souls to the Polls and the Service Employees Union rallied outside of the Wisconsin Center to condemn the use of the recount as an attempt to suppress votes.

In attendance was Greg Lewis, executive director of Souls to the Polls. In the months before the election, Lewis set a goal of getting 100,000 people out to vote. They left informational brochures at over 3,400 homes, provided educational services via Zoom, held rallies, and offered free rides to polling places.

Now, they feel targeted.

“We made sure people understood that we must build power through our vote and now this guy is coming making insinuations about fraud in our community,” said Lewis. “That is almost impossible for us to be fraudulent in our voting process in Wisconsin.” 

Bruce Colburn, program coordinator at Souls to the Polls, said the recount was a follow-through of what political officials were trying to do in the election: focus on people of color and try to disenfranchise them.

“This one is staring them right in the face. This was something that clearly had racial injustice,” said Colburn. “It’s clearly part of a 10-year effort to disenfranchise voters.”

Claims of voter fraud divide the country

Many of Wisconsin’s Republican members of Congress have been silent amidst Trump’s allegations. Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson has refused to acknowledge Biden as the winner of the presidential race, despite Biden’s lead in Wisconsin.

“Republicans have an obligation, as do Democrats, to speak the truth about things even if the truth is inconvenient to their side,” said Esenberg.

According to Widgerson, it’s a failure of Republican leadership.

“They need to be honest with their own constitutes and say, ‘no, unfortunately we lost the election at the presidential level and we’ll just have to win in four years.’ That is the responsible, mature thing to do in a democracy,” he said.

In future Wisconsin elections, Baas said it is important for people to understand how their government works.

“I hope people are more encouraged to be involved in the election process in all levels of government. Instead of running away from the process, more people need to run to the process and engage,” he said.