The Trump campaign has sought a partial recount of votes in battleground Wisconsin, which was declared for Democrat Joe Biden on a razor-thin margin. Reports said the campaign officials have wired $30 million to the Wisconsin election board under the terms of recount laws. The President's team is demanding recount of votes in two Wisconsin counties, Milwaukee and Dane.
According to the unofficial tally, Biden is leading the President by 20,470 votes, or 0.62 percent. The counties where Trump is seeking a recount are Democratic strongholds. According to election officials, the Trump campaign would have to shell out approximately $7.9 million for a statewide recount.
Meanwhile, President Trump claimed on Twitter that the Biden campaign received a "fraudulent" dump of 143,000 votes hours after the polls closed. He said in a tweet that the Biden campaign received this dump as early results showed that he was losing the state.
"Look at this in Wisconsin! A day AFTER the election, Biden receives a dump of 143,379 votes at 3:42AM, when they learned he was losing badly. This is unbelievable," Trump tweeted.
Why Milwaukee and Dane Counties?
Biden's win in Wisconsin was powered undeniably by these large counties that host urban population. Biden led Trump by a a huge margin in both these counties, helping him overturn the big leads Trump notched up in the rural belt.
In Milwaukee County, which is home to Milwaukee city, Biden led Trump with 317,251 votes against Trump's 134,355. Milwaukee is the state's largest city and home to the largest Black population in the state.
Likewise in Dane County, Biden got 260,157 votes against Trump's 78,789 votes, according to the Wisconsin Election Commission. The state capital of Madison is in Dane County and the city is home to large college-age voters.
The Trump campaign hopes that a recount in these two counties would open up a path to overturning the slim lead with which Biden edged Trump out of the state's 10 electoral college votes.
When Will the Recount Get Over?
Wisconsin has 13 days to recount all the votes as per election rules. The counting will start on Thursday, according to reports. The counting will continue through the weekends and the state has to turn in the final numbers by December 1.
Racially Biased Move?
Meanwhile, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett attacked the Trump campaign for launching a recount. The Democrat leader said the Trump move was racially biased. "It's a very futile attempt to try to disrupt democracy in the most Democratic counties in the state of Wisconsin ... This is flat out an attack on democracy in cities and places where people of color live," he said, according to CNN.
