Wisconsin Preparing For Recount, But Don't Expect Change, Officials Say
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The state of Wisconsin will begin a recount of its presidential vote on Thursday, but a top state elections official says he doubts the outcome will change.
Wisconsin voters cast nearly 3 million ballots on Election Day.
Donald Trump won the state by 22,000 votes over Hillary Clinton.
Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who is requesting the recount, got 31,000 votes.
The Green Party is paying for a recount, because of what it says are "irregularities" in the vote totals.
Wisconsin will recount nearly 3 million votes, and the chairman of the state's Elections Commission says he's confident Trump will be the winner -- again.
"To say that we didn't count them correctly the first time, that somehow there were illegal votes being counted, is really inappropriate," said Mark Thomsen, the chairman of the Wisconsin Elections Commission.
Stein went to court last week, claiming it's possible Clinton lost Wisconsin because of outside computer hackers with the ability to change vote totals.
Something elections officials say is virtually impossible.
"I'm a little overwhelmed. It's a lot to prepare," said St. Croix County clerk Cindy Campbell.
Campbell needs to immediately hire 20 people a day to count 47,000 ballots in St. Croix County -- possibly by hand.
"It will take longer to hand count," she said. "We will have to use tally sheets instead of the voting equipment."
Meanwhile: Wisconsin election officials are openly irritated by a tweet from President-elect Donald Trump.
Trump falsely claimed on Twitter he won the popular vote "if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally."
"We're not counting illegal votes," said Thomsen. "We are not counting dead people's votes. It's really, really important to know that in Wisconsin, elections are fair and accurate and conducted by hard working people."
The Wisconsin recount officially begins Dec. 1, and the Elections Commission is hoping to have all 3 million votes recounted by Dec. 12.
