Trump Promises Lawsuit Challenging Wisconsin Election Results
Campaign's lawsuit would be third suit that seeks to overturn Wisconsin's presidential election.
President Donald Trump has made his campaign’s next move explicitly clear: it will sue to overturn the Wisconsin election results.
Trump announced the news via a tweet on Saturday.
“The Wisconsin recount is not about finding mistakes in the count, it is about finding people who have voted illegally, and that case will be brought after the recount is over, on Monday or Tuesday. We have found many illegal votes. Stay tuned!” he wrote.
Dane County is expected to conclude its recount around 10 a.m. Sunday in advance of a December 1st deadline.
Biden led Trump by 20,608 votes going into the recount.
The Trump campaign requested recounts in only Wisconsin’s two largest counties and wired $3 million to the Wisconsin Elections Commission to pay for the work. It issued plenty of challenges to the process as it played out. In Milwaukee County alone, the campaign is challenging approximately 160,000 of the 460,000 votes cast.
Despite another tweet by Trump alleging fraud in the city of Milwaukee, his campaign attorneys never brought a specific charge of fraud and instead focused on objections to process.
In Milwaukee, the Trump campaign is challenging absentee ballots from three different categories: all in-person absentee ballots, 108,947, on the basis of an insufficient application; all applications and absentee ballots cast by voters who declared themselves “indefinitely confined,” particularly after March 25th (approximately 19,000 ballots), on the basis that clerks provided improper guidance; all absentee ballots where clerks completed the witness address (commonly called “mismatched ink” envelopes) on the basis that the address is incomplete and the ballot should be rejected.
In total the campaign filed objections to approximately 160,000 absentee ballots and associated envelopes in the county.
In each case, the county commission said it was following state guidance and law in accepting the ballots.
The conservative Wisconsin Voters Alliance filed a suit Tuesday, November 24th, using many of the same arguments the Trump campaign has used at the recounts. A second suit, challenging all absentee ballots returned by drop box, was filed on Friday. Each suit proposes a remedy of letting the Republican-controlled Legislature pick Wisconsin’s Electoral College delegates.
It is unclear if the Wisconsin Supreme Court would hear all of the suits simultaneously and separately.
Neither Trump nor his campaign has said if they will continue to pursue overturning Wisconsin’s results even if its legal challenges in other states are rejected.
Trump’s lead attorneys in Milwaukee County during the recount were Stewart Karge and Joe Voiland.
In Dane County Trump is being represented by brothers Jim Troupis and Christ Troupis. The former of which has submitted an objection to his own in-person absentee ballot.
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More about the 2020 General Election
- Data Wonk: New Voters Won the 2020 Election - Bruce Thompson - Jan 20th, 2021
- GOP State Legislators Asked Pence to Not Certify Election - Melanie Conklin - Jan 14th, 2021
- Rep. Hintz: Condemns Republican Legislators’ Lies and Dangerous Rhetoric - State Rep. Gordon Hintz - Jan 14th, 2021
- Tiffany, Fitzgerald Object To Some Biden Electors - Shawn Johnson - Jan 7th, 2021
- Sen. Baldwin: “It’s Disgraceful” - Urban Milwaukee - Jan 6th, 2021
- Rep Moore Blames Trump for Today’s Chaos - Urban Milwaukee - Jan 6th, 2021
- Rep. Gallagher: “We are witnessing absolute banana republic crap in the United States Capitol right now” - Urban Milwaukee - Jan 6th, 2021
- Back in the News: Cleta Mitchell Resigns from Foley Firm - Bruce Murphy - Jan 5th, 2021
- Gallagher Assails GOP Push to Nullify Election - Rob Mentzer - Jan 5th, 2021
- Back in the News: Foley Firm Faces Blowback on Trump Call - Bruce Murphy - Jan 5th, 2021
Read more about 2020 General Election here
More about the Presidential Recount
- Legislature Refuses to Change Absentee Vote Counting Law - Nora Eckert - Dec 5th, 2020
- Supervisor Martin Thanks Election Commission for Successfully Completing the Recount - Sup. Felesia Martin - Dec 2nd, 2020
- State Elections Commission Gets Testy - Jeramey Jannene - Dec 1st, 2020
- State Declares Biden Won Election - Graham Kilmer - Nov 30th, 2020
- Recount Reaffirms that Wisconsin Voters Picked Joe Biden - A Better Wisconsin Together - Nov 30th, 2020
- AG Kaul Issues Statement on Completion of Partial Recount in Wisconsin - Josh Kaul - Nov 30th, 2020
- Wisconsin Recount Grows Biden’s Margin, But Trump Says Fight Isn’t Over - Jeramey Jannene - Nov 29th, 2020
- Trump Promises Lawsuit Challenging Wisconsin Election Results - Jeramey Jannene - Nov 29th, 2020
- Milwaukee County Completes Recount - George Christenson - Nov 27th, 2020
- Milwaukee County Recount Finished, Dane County Continuing - Jeramey Jannene - Nov 27th, 2020
Read more about Presidential Recount here