It's Official: There Will be a Recount in Wisconsin

WISCONSIN -- It's official: Wisconsin is going to have a recount of ballots from the 2016 presidential election.

The Wisconsin Election Commission received two petitions as of Friday afternoon, one from Green Party candidate Jill Stein, the other from Rocky De La Fuente of the Reform party.

According to a Wisconsin State Journal report, Stein’s campaign said Wednesday it intended to request recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, the three states that tipped the electoral college to Republican Donald Trump.

"After a divisive and painful presidential race, reported hacks into voter and party databases and individual email accounts are causing many American to wonder if our election results are reliable. These concerns need to be investigated before the 2016 presidential election is certified. We deserve elections we can trust," states Dr. Jill Stein, 2016 Green Party presidential candidate.

In Depth:

Read as Patch.com takes a deep dive into Recount 2016 coverage across Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania - including some details you may not already know.

Narrowest of Margins for Trump in Wisconsin

Donald Trump won Wisconsin's 10 electoral by a 27,000 vote margin on Nov. 8 on his way to becoming the President-elect.

It had been earlier reported that a group of election lawyers are claiming that election results may have been hacked in three swing states - including Wisconsin.

The group was pressuring Hillary Clinton to seek a recount. According to a report by AOL news, Clinton's numbers were down 7 percent in Wisconsin in areas that used electronic voting machines as opposed to paper ballots or optical scanners, resulting in the possibility of 30,000 votes that were not attributed to Clinton.

Next Steps

“The Commission is preparing to move forward with a statewide recount of votes for President of the United States, as requested by these candidates,” Wisconsin Election Commission Administrator Michael Haas said Friday afternoon.

“We have assembled an internal team to direct the recount, we have been in close consultation with our county clerk partners, and have arranged for legal representation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice,” Haas said. “We plan to hold a teleconference meeting for county clerks next week and anticipate the recount will begin late in the week after the Stein campaign has paid the recount fee, which we are still calculating.”

The state is working under a federal deadline of December 13 to complete the recount. As a result, county boards of canvassers may need to work evenings and weekends to meet the deadlines. “The recount process is very detail-oriented, and this deadline will certainly challenge some counties to finish on time,” Haas said. “Wisconsin has the most decentralized election system in the United States."

2016 Wis. Presidential Election Results as of Nov. 25:

• Total Votes Cast - 2,975,313
• Donald J. Trump - 1,404,000
• Hillary Clinton - 1,381,823
• Darrell L. Castle - 12,156
• Gary Johnson - 106,585
• Jill Stein - 31,006
• Monica Moorehead - 1,769
• Rocky Roque De La Fuente - 1,514
• Cherunda Fox (write-in) - 44
• Evan McMullin (write-in) - 9,998
• Michael A. Maturen (write-in) - 243
• Marshall Schoenke (write-in) - 3
• Chris Keniston (write-in) - 58
• Laurence Kotlikoff (write-in) - 15
• Tom Hoefling (write-in) - 68
• Joseph Maldonado (write-in) - 3
• Emidio Soltysik (write-in) - 26
• Scattering (unregistered write-in candidates) - 26,002

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