National News - USNN World News

The Wisconsin Elections Commission on Wednesday night issued an order to recount ballots in two counties following a request by President Donald Trump’s campaign. Commissioners in a video teleconference on Wednesday argued for nearly six hours before ultimately agreeing to conduct the recount. “An order will be issued mandating that the recount take place. This is not a discretionary decision. This is simply what will happen,” Chairwoman Ann Jacobs, a Democrat, said at the beginning of the hearing. But members of the commission, which has three Republicans and three Democrats, debated for hours over how the recount would be conducted. Some said state law governing a recount contained ambiguities. Republican Commissioner Dean Knudson said he believed the commission should issue guidance to canvassers that they should set aside ballots that had a correction made to the witness address. “They’ve essentially filed in advance a mass objection to all such ballots, that in this era of pandemic, and all our concerns for public health, and so on, it’s kind of ridiculous to have the observers have to be close enough to see each one and object individually to each one, when instead, we could give guidance at the outset that says, ‘hey, those need to be set aside, because those are going to be under litigation,'” Knudson said. “I don’t necessarily think that as a commission, we should be pre-determining what ballots are going to be questioned or what envelopes are going to be questioned. That’s not our position,” Democrat Commissioner Julie Glancey said, though the Republican Party of the Trump campaign could recommend canvassers do so. Wisconsin Counts Poll workers check-in a box of absentee ballots at Sun Prairie High School in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, on Nov. 3, 2020. (Andy Manis/Getty Images) Knudson sparked stronger pushback when he wondered whether clerks sent out thousands of ballots that weren’t requested by voters as he proposed including written applications in the recount. “I am shocked and offended that you have implied in any way that clerks in Madison and Milwaukee have sent out thousands of unrequested ballots,” Jacobs said. “I think that’s absurd. I think it’s factually bizarre.” “What we ought not be doing is watering that plant of baloney,” she added, referring to allegations by the Trump campaign. The commission eventually approved an order that made no reference to its recount manual, which has guidelines for how local officials should conduct recounts. Trump’s campaign earlier in the day filed a petition asking for recounts in Milwaukee and Dane counties because of alleged “illegally altered absentee ballots, illegally issued absentee ballots, and illegal advice given by government officials allowing Wisconsin’s voter ID laws to be circumvented.” “The Wisconsin Elections Commission directed Wisconsin municipal clerks to illegally alter incomplete absentee ballots contrary to Wisconsin law,” the campaign added. The commission has said clerks are required by guidance issued before the 2016 election to fix addresses. trump and biden Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden (L) and President Donald Trump in file photographs. (Getty Images; Reuters) The campaign also alleged that clerks across the state issued absentee ballots to voters without requiring an application, in direct conflict with Wisconsin’s absentee voting safeguards. The campaign transferred $3 million to the state to cover the estimated cost of the partial recount. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden finished with 20,427 more votes than Trump, or 0.62 percent of the vote, according to unofficial statewide results. State law allows a candidate who ends up within 1 percent of the winner’s total to request a recount. If the margin is less than 0.25 percent, the state foots the bill, but if it’s between 0.25 percent and 1 percent, the requestee must. A full statewide recount can still be requested. The commission chair will on Thursday issue the recount order, triggering a 13-day recount clock. Recount boards can meet as soon as Nov. 19 and no later than Nov. 21. All recounts must be completed and results filed with the commission by noon on Dec. 1, a day that also marks the deadline for the commission to certify results from the election. “We understand the eyes of the world will be on these Wisconsin counties over the next few weeks,” Meagan Wolfe, Wisconsin’s chief election official, said in a statement. “We remain committed to providing information about the process and assisting our county clerks by providing facts on the mechanics of a recount and status updates.” Jack Phillips contributed to this report.

National News

Wisconsin Elections Commission Agrees to Order Partial Recount After Trump Request

by USNN2020November 19, 2020January 12, 2021

National News

Georgia Recount Witnesses Saw Trump Votes Counted for Biden

by USNN2020November 18, 2020December 28, 2024

National News

Lawmakers at Hearing Largely Agree Section 230 Reform Needed

by USNN2020November 18, 2020June 26, 2024

National News

Mail-In Ballots in Pennsylvania Not Registered in State Data, Hundreds of Voters Say

by USNN2020November 18, 2020February 26, 2025

National News

Trump Campaign Calls for Partial Recount in Wisconsin, Alleges Illegally-Altered Ballots

by USNN2020November 18, 2020August 27, 2025

National News

Georgia Monitor Catches 9,626-Vote Error in Hand Recount

by USNN2020November 18, 2020February 26, 2025

National News

Major developments in key states

by USNN2020November 18, 2020January 12, 2021

National News

Election Contest Claims 15,000 Voters in Nevada Also Voted Outside the State

by USNN2020November 18, 2020January 12, 2021

National News

Third Georgia County Finds Memory Card With Uncounted Votes

by USNN2020November 18, 2020February 26, 2025

National News

Report: More than 300,000 People Have Fled New York City Due to Coronavirus, Crime

by USNN2020November 17, 2020May 11, 2025

National News

Election Voting Machine Secrets Revealed: Dominion Ties to Scytl, Smartmatic

by USNN2020November 17, 2020January 12, 2021

National News

2 Charged With Voter Fraud, Allegedly Submitted 8,000 Fraudulent Registration Applications

by USNN2020November 17, 2020January 12, 2021

NATIONAL NEWS

Black male leaders warn Biden ‘will lose’ election if he doesn’t name Black female running mate

By Paul Steinhauser, Tara Prindiville | Fox News Black female VP contenders are being ‘unfairly criticized and scrutinized,’ the statement says. A group of over 100 Black male leaders is ...

Trump says Schumer, Pelosi ‘want to meet to make a deal’ on coronavirus relief

By Brooke Singman | Fox News Schumer called Trump’s executive orders ‘laughable’. President Trump said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi “want to meet to make a deal” on the ...

Mark Levin: Dems want mail-in voting ‘extended’ so even if Trump ‘wins they can call him a fake president’

By Talia Kaplan | Fox News Levin says Democrats are ‘suddenly’ interested in mail-in voting to ‘collapse’ and ‘overwhelm’ the system. Democrats want mail-in voting “extended” so even if Trump ...

Sen. Ron Johnson denies getting dirt on Biden from Ukrainian lawmaker, blasts Blumenthal for ‘twisting’ classified briefings

By Andrew O’Reilly | Fox News Johnson denied Blumenthal’s claims that he received documents relating to Joe Biden and his son’s activities in Ukraine. Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., is ...

Trump says US will be ‘very careful’ after intel community warns of election interference from rival nations

By Adam Shaw | Fox News ‘We’re going to look at it very closely.’ President Trump on Friday said the U.S. will be “very careful” after the intelligence community warned ...

Group sends hundreds of thousands of ‘potentially misleading’ ballot applications

By Morgan Phillips | Fox News The mailings contain legitimate ballot applications but appear to be from a government source. A voter registration group is sending hundreds of ...

Biden walks back African American ‘diversity’ remarks, lauds community’s ‘diversity of thought’

By Joseph A. Wulfsohn | Fox News ‘In no way did I mean to suggest the African American community is a monolith,’ ex-VP says. Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden attempted ...

Trump claims Biden ‘no longer worthy of the Black Vote’ in wake of diversity comment

By Brooke Singman | Fox News ‘Sleepy Joe Biden just lost the Black Vote,’ Trump first said in a now-deleted tweet. President Trump on Friday said his presumptive ...

NRA fights back, files its own suit against NY attorney general seeking to disband organization

By Stephanie Pagones | Fox News President Trump slammed AG Letitia James’ suit against the group, calling it ‘a very terrible thing’. The National Rifle Association is fighting back against ...

Washington Post issues major correction after botching Trump-Twitter post

By Joseph A. Wulfsohn | Fox News The Washington Post sparked massive confusion Wednesday evening after erroneously reporting that President Trump was banned from tweeting because of a claim he ...

Cities go to extremes with quarantine crackdowns: Checkpoints, power shutoffs, steep fines

By Tyler Olson | Fox News Some travelers will be stopped in NYC. The interstate in Chicago has signs warning about quarantine requirements. With the daily number of coronavirus cases ...

Pelosi blasts Trump for saying he may deliver convention speech from White House: ‘He can’t do that’

By Megan Henney | Fox News She questioned whether the move was ‘legally wrong’ or ‘ethically out of the question’. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi slammed President Trump for suggesting that ...