2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumWisconsin Elections Commission Receives 3.5 million Payment from Stein
http://elections.wi.gov/node/4457"Date: November 29, 2016
MADISON, WI Here are the latest developments:
The Wisconsin Elections Commission has received a bank wire transfer of $3,499,689 from the Jill Stein presidential campaign to prepay the estimated cost of conducting a statewide recount.
With payment received, the Commission is issuing an order for the recount to begin on Thursday. The complete schedule is here: http://elections.wi.gov/node/4445
The campaign of Roque De La Fuente withdrew its recount petition today, and will not be participating financially in the cost of the recount.
Yesterday, the Commission released an estimate of nearly $3.5 million to the campaigns of Green Party candidate Jill Stein and independent candidate Rocky Roque De La Fuente. Unfortunately, there was an error in adding up figures from the 72 Wisconsin county clerks of their estimated recount costs, and the actual total is $3,898,340.
At this time, the Commission will not be requiring the Stein campaign to pay the additional amount. When counties report their actual costs, the Commission will either bill the Stein campaign for any costs over the $3.5 million or refund the campaign any unused funds.
The Commissions role in a recount is to order the recount, to provide legal guidance to the counties during the recount, and to certify the results. If the candidates disagree with the results of the recount, the law gives them the right to appeal in circuit court within five business days after the recount is completed. The circuit court is where issues are resolved that may be discovered during the recount but are not resolved to the satisfaction of the candidates.
Wisconsins Recount Manual and comprehensive information about past recounts, including the last statewide recount in the 2011 Wisconsin Supreme Court election, are available here: http://elections.wi.gov/elections-voting/recount."
She waiting until almost literally, the very last minute, before sending that wire transfer. I was half expecting her to not pay it. I guess she didn't really have much of a choice.
SoCalMusicLover
(3,194 posts)"Unfortunately, there was an error in adding up figures from the 72 Wisconsin county clerks of their estimated recount costs, and the actual total is $3,898,340."
But ordinarily, their counting is accurate, huh?
KewlKat
(5,656 posts)EL34x4
(2,003 posts)This is a spectacular waste of time and money.
Barack_America
(28,876 posts)If not, why do you care?
EL34x4
(2,003 posts)Million of hard-earned dollars spent so that election workers can put in long hours and weekends recounting votes that they know won't change anything.
And when the recount comes back roughly the same, give or take a few dozen, then what exactly did Stein's crusade accomplish other than giving Donald Trump the bragging rights to say that he won a second time?
Did the recount instill confidence in the original process?
SoCalMusicLover
(3,194 posts)What if it comes back that she didn't win Wisconsin, but instead of a few dozen votes being wrong, it was a few thousand.
Would that be indicative of fraud? If not, how come these mistakes ALWAYS seem to favor the repubs? When was the last time mistakes transferred to more Democratic votes?
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)I don't see a confirmation of the process as a waste of time, regardless of the outcome.
leftynyc
(26,060 posts)Even ahead of the forthcoming recount in Wisconsin, Donald Trumps lead has already shrunk to just 22,525 votes. That means 18% of his lead has already vanished, based on precincts catching some of their own incorrect numbers, and internet gawkers catching others. But the second thing that jumps out is that the revisions have served to erase thousands of votes from Trump, while affirming that Clintons vote total was essentially correct to begin with.
Ellipsis
(9,189 posts)bigmonkey
(1,798 posts)I see it being useful to:
-Make sure the right person wins, i.e. the person who received the most votes. Walker has been engaging in every kind of manipulation of processes that he can manage since he was elected. Why assume that he's not doing that in this election?
-Provide an opportunity for experts in voting systems to get their hands on the data
-Confirm, or rule out, that the election was hacked
LisaL
(46,725 posts)lostnfound
(16,708 posts)So it's a wee bit more than 5000.
SickOfTheOnePct
(7,383 posts)If she gets the hand recount she's suing for?
TheFrenchRazor
(2,116 posts)jmg257
(11,996 posts)Hand counting will bring it to around $7 mil.
frankieallen
(583 posts)What is she hoping to accomplish?
politicaljunkie41910
(3,335 posts)As one who contributed to the recount, I want to know the results. If you don't, I'd think you'd find something else to bitch about. You aren't going to sway the opinion of those who do want to see the results. Personally, I want the outcome of these results to be that every state, and every county in every state, has a voter tabulation system which is secure, auditable and capable of producing consistent verifiable results; and not just a one-time only result incapable of verifiable audit. Maybe that result does or doesn't apply to Wisconsin but based on discussions reported on this board and others reported elsewhere, there are states out there that don't meet this requirement. State and local governments spend enough on elections as do the candidates and I think that the greatest nation on earth should have this as a minimum standard or else we're no better than a Banana Republic.
frankieallen
(583 posts)as the original count?
How many people could of been housed and fed with 3.5 million dollars? This isn't going to change anything, so like I said, waste of time and MONEY.
politicaljunkie41910
(3,335 posts)about them. I'm sure that you and anyone else who is concerned about other people wasting their money will take up the cause.
SickOfTheOnePct
(7,383 posts)libtodeath
(2,892 posts)What the fuck?
Whether it would have flipped the state or not we are watching tyranny over take us right before our eyes.
SickOfTheOnePct
(7,383 posts)are doing a hand recount - I read it earlier today, I'll see if I can find the link.
tavernier
(13,277 posts)Only six or seven counties denied the hand recount.
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Here is the quote. I was mistaken, 19 counties are using machines.
And as an aside, the Judge pushed the clerks to to hand counts, she just couldn't order them to do so. Out of 72 counties, only 19 have said they are using the machines, so it will almost be a statewide hand count.
kentuck
(112,948 posts)They seem to have settled on a fee that will begin the process.
TheBlackAdder
(29,001 posts)HassleCat
(6,409 posts)They're just going to drive the same train down the same track.