A recount of more than 800,000 ballots in two heavily Democratic counties in Wisconsin will begin Friday following a meeting of the state’s elections commission which turned contentious when Democrats sought to change the manual that provides guidance to local elections officials over how to conduct the review.
The special Wednesday evening gathering of the commissioners turned most heated when the three Democratic members sought to waive the requirement for clerks in Milwaukee and Dane counties to provide the original applications for absentee ballots that are to be reviewed during the recount, the Washington Examiner reported.
Republican officials decried the convening of the meeting and the attempt by Democrats to change the previously agreed to rules.
Wisconsin native, former Republican National Committee chairman and former chief of staff for President Donald Trump Reince Priebus mocked the process in a Twitter post.
"Let's get this straight,'' he wrote. ''The Trump campaign sent the Wis Election Comm. $3 mill and filed its petition for a recount. Then the WEC immediately called a special meeting to change certain recount rules that deal with the issues brought up in the petition? You can’t make this up!''
The commission, divided among three Republicans and three Democrats, deadlocked 3-3 on the sought changes meaning the rule remain unchanged and the absentee ballot applications must be approved as part of the recount, The Associated Press reported. However, some accommodations were approved for safety considerations to minimize novel coronavirus spread.
Board Chair Ann Jacobs, a Democrat, called the Trump campaign’s claim that thousands of absentee ballots were mailed to voters who hadn’t requested them a ''vague, paranoid conspiracy.''
Dean Knudson and Bob Spindell, two of the Republican commissioners, wondered aloud whether election observers would be treated fairly by Democratic county clerks in Milwaukee and Madison, the latter city is the heavily Democratic state capital and county seat for Dane.
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