United States - USNN World News

National News

Former Senate Leader of Minnesota’s Democrats Leaves Party

by USNN2020November 19, 2020January 12, 2021

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

California City Mayor Pro Tem Resigns After Pleading Guilty to Election Fraud

By Jack Phillips The mayor pro tem of a Northern California city resigned after he pleaded guilty to election fraud, according to local reports last week. Crescent City Mayor ...

Graham: Trump Could Make GOP Bigger and Stronger, or He Could Destroy It

By Janita Kan Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said he thinks former President Donald Trump could make the Republican Party “bigger” and “stronger,” or lead the party to ...

Conservative Nonprofit to Launch $10 Million Campaign to Strengthen Election Integrity: Report

By Tom Ozimek Conservative nonprofit Heritage Action for America is on Monday expected to announce plans to spend $10 million on a wide-ranging election integrity campaign to ...

White House Says Relief Bill Remains ‘Incredibly Progressive’ Despite Senate Compromises

By Tom Ozimek White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said Friday that the $1.9 trillion relief package—panned by Republicans as a liberal wish list packed with non-pandemic-related spending ...

White House Sidesteps Question Over Rising Gas Prices

By Bowen Xiao The White House on March 4 sidestepped questions about whether President Joe Biden was doing anything to curb rising gas prices, as those ...

Supreme Court Dismisses ‘Sanctuary City’ Cases at Request of Biden’s DOJ

By Tom Ozimek The Supreme Court has dismissed three pending requests to hear challenges to the Trump administration’s order to withhold millions of dollars in law enforcement ...

Pelosi’s $140 Million Silicon Valley Subway Earmark Nixed by Senate Parliamentarian

By Mark Tapscott Big trouble appears to be brewing in the U.S. Senate over the $1.9 trillion “American Rescue Plan” for CCP virus relief approved by House ...

Republicans on the Hill Too Quick to Exile Trump: McEnany

By Li Hai Some Republicans in Congress have been too quick to exile former President Donald Trump, former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told Fox News ...

Texas Governor Ends Statewide Mask Mandate, Allows All Businesses to Fully Reopen

By Zachary Stieber The governor of Texas on Tuesday ended his statewide mask mandate while allowing all businesses in the state to fully reopen. “With the medical advancements of vaccines ...

Third Woman Accuses Cuomo of Making Unwanted Advances

By Isabel Van Brugen A third woman has come forward with harassment allegations against New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, as calls for the Democrat’s resignation continue to grow. Anna ...

Georgia House Passes Omnibus Election Reform Bill

By Mimi Nguyen Ly Georgia’s House of Representatives passed an omnibus bill that would reform a range of election rules, including over absentee voting, voter ID ...

Democratic NY State Senator Calls for Cuomo’s Resignation

By Jack Phillips New York state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, a Democrat, called on New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to resign following sexual harassment allegations against the Democratic governor. “As ...