Nov. 30 (UPI) — A recount of two of Wisconsin’s largest county’s affirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s win in the state Sunday, but President Donald Trump said he would still pursue legal challenges in the state.
Also Sunday, Biden’s team told reporters that he twisted his ankle while playing with his German shepherd dog Major and arrived at the Delaware Orthopedic Specialists in Newark, N.J., shortly after 4 p.m. Out of an abundance of caution, he will be examined this afternoon by an orthopedist,” they said about Biden, who turned 78 on Nov. 20.
Biden’ won Wisconsin by 20,000 votes and his lead over Trump increased by 87 votes following the recount requested and funded by Trump’s campaign as Milwaukee County completed its tally on Friday and Dane County finished its count on Sunday.
Danielle Melfi, Wisconsin state director of Biden’s campaign, said Sunday the recount “only served to reaffirm” the former vice president’s win and that local boards of canvassers “resoundingly rejected — often on a bipartisan basis — the Trump campaign’s baseless attempts to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites who simply followed the law when they voted. And despite repeated incendiary accusations, there was no evidence of fraud whatsoever.”
In Dane County, Trump saw a net gain of 45 votes after Biden lost 91 and Trump lost 46, largely due to absentee ballot envelopes that were found lacking voter signatures, witness signatures or witness address, Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell said.
Biden gained 132 more votes in Milwaukee County after tabulators discovered 386 votes were not counted on Election Day.
“For me what this recount showed was that there was absolutely no evidence of voter fraud in this election even after looking at over 300,000 ballots, over 245,000 envelopes,” said McDonell. “Really this incredible level of transparency should provide reassurance to the public that the election was run properly and accurately and there was no fraud.”
Trump’s campaign requested the recount, seeking to toss out about 180,000 votes in the two counties as their lawyers argued that a form signed by voters who cast ballots during in-person early voting was not sufficient under state law.
They also objected to state practices including allowing election officials to fix errors on certification envelopes of some mail-in ballots and allowing some people to vote without providing photo ID by declaring themselves “indefinitely confined” due to age or disability.
Trump wrote on Twitter Saturday that his team plans to file a legal challenge in Wisconsin following the recount, claiming without evidence that they had “found many illegal votes.”
“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,” Trump wrote.
In an interview on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures, Trump also continued to claim that the election was “rigged” and “a fraud” complaining that he has “not seen anything” from either the Department of Justice or the Federal Bureau of Investigation looking into the 2020 election.
“You would think if you’re the FBI or Department of Justice, this is the biggest thing you could be looking at. Where are they? I’ve not seen anything,” Trump said. “They just keep moving along and they go on to the next president.”
Trump has lost a series of challenges in key states, with Michigan officials certifying the state’s vote in favor of Biden, while Pennsylvania did the same. A recount of ballots in Georgia also affirmed Biden’s victory in the state.
The Wisconsin Election Commission is scheduled to meet on Tuesday for election officials to vote on certifying the elections, while Arizona — another state where Trump has challenged Biden’s win — is also set to finalize election results.
Despite the ongoing legal challenges, the formal transition process has begun with the General Service Administration releasing transition funds to Biden’s campaign, as his transition team has been cleared to receive key information, including the President’s Daily Brief.
On Saturday, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit from Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., and other Republicans that attempted to invalidate absentee voting and block the certification of votes.
Trump returned to the White House on Sunday after spending two days at Camp David in Maryland with family members.
