‘We’re Going to Get This Done’: Wisconsin Vote Recount Is Underway
By JULIE BOSMANDEC. 1, 2016
ELKHORN, Wis. — The basement room was cleared of pens with blue or black ink, items that could mar paper ballots. Anyone wearing a coat was told to leave it in the hallway, in case something nefarious was hidden underneath. Water bottles, purses and keys were placed on the floor, leaving the large plastic tables smooth and uncluttered.
And at 9 a.m., with the brisk rap of a county clerk’s wooden gavel, the first recount of the 2016 presidential election was underway in Wisconsin, with another recount pending in the neighboring battleground state of Michigan.
For the next 12 days, election officials across all 72 counties in Wisconsin will work days, nights and weekends to recount nearly three million ballots, an effort initiated and financed by Jill Stein, the Green Party presidential candidate, who has suggested that voting machines in the state could have been hacked.
Very few people expect that the recount will reverse the outcome of the election. President-elect Donald J. Trump triumphed here over Hillary Clinton by 22,177 votes, and in Michigan by 10,704 votes, a margin that a lawyer for Mrs. Clinton, Marc Elias, said had never been overcome in a recount. Legal challenges to the vote in Pennsylvania, where Mr. Trump leads by 70,638 votes, are also underway.
As Wisconsin was beginning to take another look at its votes, the efforts in Michigan and Pennsylvania remained in flux.
The Michigan secretary of state’s office announced that Mr. Trump on Thursday objected to the recount, halting plans to begin the process on Friday. Lawyers for Mr. Trump argued that Ms. Stein did not qualify to demand a recount and that it would not be finished in time for the Electoral College, which meets on Dec. 19. The board plans to hear the objection on Friday, and if it rejects it, the recount would probably commence on Tuesday.
In Pennsylvania, where Ms. Stein’s efforts have more hurdles, election officials in Philadelphia said on Thursday that, pending litigation, they would begin recounting votes in 75 precincts on Friday, a small portion of the nearly 1,700 in the city. The elections commission, though, denied a request for a full forensic audit of the city’s voting machines.
Here in Elkhorn, a city of about 10,000 people in Walworth County in southern Wisconsin, the recount began in a government building downtown, where workers approached their task with both urgency and trepidation. They are expecting to count ballots for close to 12 hours a day until the task is complete – their deadline is Dec. 12. The Electoral College will vote on Dec. 19.
“We’re going to be working long hours, but we’re going to get this done,” said Kimberly S. Bushey, the clerk for Walworth County. When a co-worker suggested that the group would be taking a lunch break at some point, she answered with a terse “Maybe.”
Tabulators, mostly retirees, are being paid $25 for each half day they work, and county officials say they would bring in workers as needed to count the 51,000 ballots in time.
In Wisconsin, recounts are not terribly unusual. Another vast statewide recount happened only four years ago, for a seat on the state’s Supreme Court. The recount took more than a month.
Michael Cotter, a staff member in the county clerk’s office, stood on the sidelines on Thursday morning and recalled at least three other recounts that he had taken part in, dating from a countywide do-over for a judicial seat in the spring of 2000.
“We had punch ballots back then, so I knew all about pregnant chads and hanging chads before Bush and Gore,” he said. “They kept falling out of the ballots and they were all over the floor, like confetti.”
Election officials here seemed determined to keep the process orderly. Observers were told to stay several feet away from the tabulators, on one side of the room marked off by green tape. Donna Emelity, a tabulator, said she was volunteering out of a sense of civic duty. “Wisconsin is run very honest,” she said. “I think it will prove to people that it’s an honest election and it’ll help people have more confidence.”
Representatives of the campaigns were allowed to be closer to the process, peering over the shoulders of election officials as they tested machines and used pliers to snip open white plastic sacks of ballots.
Mary Gilding, a volunteer for the Stein campaign who was there to oversee the recount, said that she did not “have a dog in this fight,” but merely wanted to ensure that the election results were accurate.
“I hope we find that there won’t be anything that went wrong in our little county,” Ms. Gilding said. “But with all that’s going on with hacking, we need to find out for sure.”
Ms. Stein has argued that counting by hand is more accurate than machine recounting, but lost a hearing on Tuesday that could have mandated a statewide hand count. That left the decision up to individual county clerks, who opted mostly for a hand count. A few said they were bowing to demands from people who found counting by machines to be suspicious; Walworth County officials said they would use a combination of counting by hand and feeding ballots into an optical scanner.
In a statement, Ms. Stein hailed the start of the recount as a “critical first step towards restoring faith in our voting system” while urging election administrators to review ballots by hand, and “not simply push a button that would repeat whatever problems may have occurred in the original tally.”
State Republicans have dismissed the recount as a stunt. Mr. Trump posted an angry response on Twitter about it this week.
Governor Walker, a Republican, has criticized the recount. “The motivations behind the recount are questionable and ultimately costly,” Tom Evenson, a spokesman, said in an email. “Governor Walker has confidence in Wisconsin’s electoral process and believes it is both fair and protected.”
Andrea Kaminski, executive director of the League of Women Voters in Wisconsin, said she did not expect the recount to change the election results in a significant way.
But she said the recount was consistent with a Wisconsin trait: “the fact that we have so darn many elections.”
“That reflects not so much our high level of civic participation, but the polarization that we’re under right now,” she said. “Right now, Wisconsin is just in a lock of polarized politics where neither side is willing to compromise.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/01/us/vote-recounts-wisconsin-michigan-pennsylvania.html?&moduleDetail=section-news-3&action=click&contentCollection=U.S.®ion=Footer&module=MoreInSection&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&pgtype=article
By JULIE BOSMANDEC. 1, 2016
ELKHORN, Wis. — The basement room was cleared of pens with blue or black ink, items that could mar paper ballots. Anyone wearing a coat was told to leave it in the hallway, in case something nefarious was hidden underneath. Water bottles, purses and keys were placed on the floor, leaving the large plastic tables smooth and uncluttered.
And at 9 a.m., with the brisk rap of a county clerk’s wooden gavel, the first recount of the 2016 presidential election was underway in Wisconsin, with another recount pending in the neighboring battleground state of Michigan.
For the next 12 days, election officials across all 72 counties in Wisconsin will work days, nights and weekends to recount nearly three million ballots, an effort initiated and financed by Jill Stein, the Green Party presidential candidate, who has suggested that voting machines in the state could have been hacked.
Very few people expect that the recount will reverse the outcome of the election. President-elect Donald J. Trump triumphed here over Hillary Clinton by 22,177 votes, and in Michigan by 10,704 votes, a margin that a lawyer for Mrs. Clinton, Marc Elias, said had never been overcome in a recount. Legal challenges to the vote in Pennsylvania, where Mr. Trump leads by 70,638 votes, are also underway.
As Wisconsin was beginning to take another look at its votes, the efforts in Michigan and Pennsylvania remained in flux.
The Michigan secretary of state’s office announced that Mr. Trump on Thursday objected to the recount, halting plans to begin the process on Friday. Lawyers for Mr. Trump argued that Ms. Stein did not qualify to demand a recount and that it would not be finished in time for the Electoral College, which meets on Dec. 19. The board plans to hear the objection on Friday, and if it rejects it, the recount would probably commence on Tuesday.
In Pennsylvania, where Ms. Stein’s efforts have more hurdles, election officials in Philadelphia said on Thursday that, pending litigation, they would begin recounting votes in 75 precincts on Friday, a small portion of the nearly 1,700 in the city. The elections commission, though, denied a request for a full forensic audit of the city’s voting machines.
Here in Elkhorn, a city of about 10,000 people in Walworth County in southern Wisconsin, the recount began in a government building downtown, where workers approached their task with both urgency and trepidation. They are expecting to count ballots for close to 12 hours a day until the task is complete – their deadline is Dec. 12. The Electoral College will vote on Dec. 19.
“We’re going to be working long hours, but we’re going to get this done,” said Kimberly S. Bushey, the clerk for Walworth County. When a co-worker suggested that the group would be taking a lunch break at some point, she answered with a terse “Maybe.”
Tabulators, mostly retirees, are being paid $25 for each half day they work, and county officials say they would bring in workers as needed to count the 51,000 ballots in time.
In Wisconsin, recounts are not terribly unusual. Another vast statewide recount happened only four years ago, for a seat on the state’s Supreme Court. The recount took more than a month.
Michael Cotter, a staff member in the county clerk’s office, stood on the sidelines on Thursday morning and recalled at least three other recounts that he had taken part in, dating from a countywide do-over for a judicial seat in the spring of 2000.
“We had punch ballots back then, so I knew all about pregnant chads and hanging chads before Bush and Gore,” he said. “They kept falling out of the ballots and they were all over the floor, like confetti.”
Election officials here seemed determined to keep the process orderly. Observers were told to stay several feet away from the tabulators, on one side of the room marked off by green tape. Donna Emelity, a tabulator, said she was volunteering out of a sense of civic duty. “Wisconsin is run very honest,” she said. “I think it will prove to people that it’s an honest election and it’ll help people have more confidence.”
Representatives of the campaigns were allowed to be closer to the process, peering over the shoulders of election officials as they tested machines and used pliers to snip open white plastic sacks of ballots.
Mary Gilding, a volunteer for the Stein campaign who was there to oversee the recount, said that she did not “have a dog in this fight,” but merely wanted to ensure that the election results were accurate.
“I hope we find that there won’t be anything that went wrong in our little county,” Ms. Gilding said. “But with all that’s going on with hacking, we need to find out for sure.”
Ms. Stein has argued that counting by hand is more accurate than machine recounting, but lost a hearing on Tuesday that could have mandated a statewide hand count. That left the decision up to individual county clerks, who opted mostly for a hand count. A few said they were bowing to demands from people who found counting by machines to be suspicious; Walworth County officials said they would use a combination of counting by hand and feeding ballots into an optical scanner.
In a statement, Ms. Stein hailed the start of the recount as a “critical first step towards restoring faith in our voting system” while urging election administrators to review ballots by hand, and “not simply push a button that would repeat whatever problems may have occurred in the original tally.”
State Republicans have dismissed the recount as a stunt. Mr. Trump posted an angry response on Twitter about it this week.
Governor Walker, a Republican, has criticized the recount. “The motivations behind the recount are questionable and ultimately costly,” Tom Evenson, a spokesman, said in an email. “Governor Walker has confidence in Wisconsin’s electoral process and believes it is both fair and protected.”
Andrea Kaminski, executive director of the League of Women Voters in Wisconsin, said she did not expect the recount to change the election results in a significant way.
But she said the recount was consistent with a Wisconsin trait: “the fact that we have so darn many elections.”
“That reflects not so much our high level of civic participation, but the polarization that we’re under right now,” she said. “Right now, Wisconsin is just in a lock of polarized politics where neither side is willing to compromise.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/01/us/vote-recounts-wisconsin-michigan-pennsylvania.html?&moduleDetail=section-news-3&action=click&contentCollection=U.S.®ion=Footer&module=MoreInSection&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&pgtype=article
Today at 9:01 am by Proven
» utube MM&C 4/26/24 Iraqi Dinar - US Treasury Exchange Rates- Focus - Banking Partnerships - Rate C
Today at 7:46 am by Rocky
» utube MM&C 4/28/24 Iraq Dinar - IQD - Banks - Merge Regionally - Water - Labor -Jobs - Dinar Value
Today at 7:45 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: The water situation in Iraq is not in the best condition.. Aboul Gheit extends an invitat
Today at 7:34 am by Rocky
» The Sudanese advisor explains... Has the 2024 budget entered into force?
Today at 7:23 am by Rocky
» The Iraqi Central Bank announces the strengthening of banks’ external accounts by $260 million
Today at 7:21 am by Rocky
» Economist: The path of development is the first gateway to sustainable economic advancement in Iraq
Today at 7:20 am by Rocky
» The green economy and diversity... major projects and challenges that will reap their fruits later -
Today at 7:16 am by Rocky
» Behind the scenes of the state administration meeting: The regional government supports Sudanese wit
Today at 7:14 am by Rocky
» The Real Estate Registry begins activating the electronic restrictions management system program
Today at 7:11 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani confirms from Riyadh the possibility of cooperation with the German technology company (SA
Today at 7:08 am by Rocky
» On top of which is the path of development.. Al-Awadi announces the most prominent files that the Pr
Today at 6:54 am by Rocky
» The President of the Republic receives the President of the International Labor Organization
Today at 6:49 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Finance: This week will witness funding the salaries of employees in the Kurdistan Reg
Today at 6:48 am by Rocky
» On an experimental basis... Justice announces the start of activating the electronic barriers manage
Today at 6:46 am by Rocky
» Obelisk Hour: The economic provisions in the strategic framework agreement need to be activated
Today at 6:44 am by Rocky
» Before self-sufficiency... 80 percent of citizens' need for gasoline will be met soon
Today at 6:41 am by Rocky
» A deputy reveals the features of the "five-year plan" to revive Iraqi agriculture
Today at 6:39 am by Rocky
» Deputy: We opened the Council of Ministers to decide the salary scale
Today at 6:38 am by Rocky
» Iraq doubles its investments in modern irrigation engineering by no less than 20%
Today at 6:36 am by Rocky
» Confirming to Shafaq News... The Sudanese arrives in Saudi Arabia to participate in the World Econom
Today at 6:31 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani announces that clues have been found leading to those involved in the Kormor bombing
Today at 6:29 am by Rocky
» Special: Deconstructing the mystery of the repeated targeting of the Kormor field
Today at 6:28 am by Rocky
» Increase in foreign remittance sales at the Central Bank of Iraq
Today at 6:27 am by Rocky
» Al-Maliki: The salaries of the region’s employees are continuing, and there will be solutions to del
Today at 6:26 am by Rocky
» Minister of Resources: Iraq is one of the countries most affected by climate change
Today at 5:29 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani arrives in Riyadh to participate in the World Economic Forum
Today at 5:27 am by Rocky
» An Arab call to the countries neighboring Iraq regarding the share of water
Today at 5:26 am by Rocky
» IMF: Poor productivity is responsible for 50% of the decline in economic growth
Today at 5:20 am by Rocky
» The President of the Republic stresses to Barzani the importance of focusing on construction, recons
Today at 5:19 am by Rocky
» Will Iran lose the Iraqi market? 20 million dollars is threatened with loss
Today at 5:18 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Economy: Parliament will extend the legislative term to approve the budget
Today at 5:13 am by Rocky
» The price of the dollar is close to 145 thousand dinars؛ how much is $100 worth of transactions؟
Today at 5:13 am by wciappetta
» A factory for producing electric cars
Today at 5:12 am by Rocky
» Prime Minister: We have launched strategies to improve the conditions of workers
Today at 5:10 am by Rocky
» Economic prospects from America to Türkiye
Today at 5:09 am by Rocky
» Al-Rayes: The path of development is the first gateway to sustainable economic advancement
Today at 5:08 am by Rocky
» Days after announcing the connection with Jordan, an almost complete absence of electricity in Ramad
Today at 5:06 am by Rocky
» A Kurdistan delegation meets with the Ministry of Finance in Baghdad to discuss “revenues and implem
Today at 5:05 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary Economy reviews files and the importance of Sudanese’s upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia
Today at 4:59 am by Rocky
» Al-Maliki talks about postponing the Kurdistan Parliament elections and says that salary transfers w
Today at 4:54 am by Rocky
» The President of the Republic and Barzani discuss the results of Sudanese’s visit to the United Stat
Today at 4:53 am by Rocky
» The Ministry of Finance is "dizzy"... An expert points out a "lapse" in the budget schedules: Februa
Today at 4:49 am by Rocky
» Sudanese Advisor: The 2024 budget has entered into force... and there is no need to send its schedul
Today at 4:43 am by Rocky
» The Iraqi dinar is recovering against the US dollar in local markets
Today at 4:42 am by Rocky
» Iraq.. The claim that OPEC’s decisions affect oil derivatives only and not crude is “inaccurate”
Today at 4:39 am by Rocky
» Al-Bawi: Erdogan failed in his promises to his people and seeks to plunge Iraq into its conflict wit
Today at 4:37 am by Rocky
» The Sudanese and his battle against corruption.. Where is the fault with the government or with the
Today at 4:36 am by Rocky
» Amnesty International criticizes Iraq's implementation of 13 death sentences
Today at 4:34 am by Rocky
» The ambassador is very angry with Parliament: The homosexuality law obstructs the government and har
Today at 4:33 am by Rocky
» Al-Mandalawi: There is no place for homosexuality in the Iraq of the prophets and saints, and that i
Today at 4:32 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani receives the President of the University: Towards the strength and status of the Arab syst
Today at 4:31 am by Rocky
» Ayed Al-Hilali: All leaders are discussing “the finer details of Sudanese” tonight, and Barzani join
Today at 4:30 am by Rocky
» He announced the reception of offers from three alliances from international companies for the Baghd
Today at 4:28 am by Rocky
» During his meeting with the head of the Iraqi Journalists Syndicate... Al-Amiri stresses the importa
Today at 4:26 am by Rocky
» During the launch of the Arab Labor Conference in its 50th session in Baghdad... Al-Sudani: We launc
Today at 4:24 am by Rocky
» Saudi Arabia announces an increase in direct flights with Iraq
Today at 4:23 am by Rocky
» Resources: Government measures have contributed to improving the water situation in Iraq
Today at 4:22 am by Rocky
» Al-Sadr: The voice of American universities calling for an end to Zionist terrorism is our voice
Today at 4:21 am by Rocky
» International organization: 50% of displaced Iraqis lack official documents
Today at 4:20 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: The path of development will provide many job opportunities
Today at 4:19 am by Rocky
» Parliament Finance: The necessity of converting tax and customs revenues to digital processing
Today at 4:18 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani announces that clues have been found to uncover those involved in the Kormor bombing
Today at 4:16 am by Rocky
» The start of the work of the Fourth Baghdad International Water Conference
Today at 4:09 am by Rocky
» The Council of Ministers will suspend official working hours next Wednesday
Today at 4:07 am by Rocky
» An almost complete outage of water and electricity in western Anbar
Today at 4:06 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary expectations of extending the legislative term to approve the budget
Today at 4:00 am by Rocky
» Education: The cost of participating in the electronic school will amount to 200 thousand dinars
Today at 3:59 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani arrives in Riyadh to participate in the World Economic Forum
Today at 3:58 am by Rocky
» A newspaper reveals a dark world that brings together bloggers and politicians
Today at 3:57 am by Rocky
» Al-Marsoumi: The bombing of the Kormor field undermined efforts to achieve self-sufficiency in gas
Today at 3:55 am by Rocky
» utube MM&C 4/24/24 Support - USA- Turkey - Timing- Currency Value - Tabled
Yesterday at 2:18 pm by Rocky
» Parliamentary efforts to transform Iraq into a global market for transferring Internet capacities
Yesterday at 2:07 pm by Rocky
» A parliamentary committee that enriches the political forces: Stop plundering Iraq’s wealth and work
Yesterday at 1:56 pm by Rocky
» Politician: Salem Al-Issawi is the most likely to assume the presidency of Parliament
Yesterday at 1:55 pm by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: The world today is witnessing crises whose impact has been reflected in the global econo
Yesterday at 9:50 am by Rocky
» The Federal Court responds to an inquiry by Al-Sudani regarding the powers of the provincial council
Yesterday at 9:40 am by Rocky
» Among them are the Iraqis... a list of the most sought-after immigrants to America
Yesterday at 9:38 am by Rocky
» An expert talks about the "biggest barrier" and the positives of merging Iraqi and Arab banks
Yesterday at 9:29 am by Rocky
» The House of Representatives adjourns its session
Yesterday at 9:24 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary demands to expedite the legislation of the Eid al-Ghadir holiday law (documents)
Yesterday at 9:23 am by Rocky
» Parliament adds the paragraph “Electing the Speaker of the House of Representatives” to its agenda
Yesterday at 9:21 am by Rocky
» Alsumaria publishes the text of the law against prostitution and homosexuality
Yesterday at 9:20 am by Rocky
» A parliamentarian reveals the reason for the failure of the Speaker of Parliament to pass during tod
Yesterday at 9:19 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani: The government has launched many strategies and initiatives that will improve the reality
Yesterday at 8:42 am by Rocky
» International Business: Iraq has made progress in supporting businesses through investment and priva
Yesterday at 8:33 am by Rocky
» Association of Banks: Iraq is witnessing great development in the transition to electronic governmen
Yesterday at 8:25 am by Rocky
» The House of Representatives votes to add an item to its agenda (election of the Speaker of the Hous
Yesterday at 8:22 am by Rocky
» Parliamentary integrity: Combating corruption requires parliamentary legislation
Yesterday at 8:15 am by Rocky
» Al-Karaawi: America is trying to restrict Iraq
Yesterday at 8:13 am by Rocky
» The State of Law coalition moves to form the local government in Diyala
Yesterday at 8:12 am by Rocky
» The Sudanese and his battle against corruption.. Where is the fault with the government or with the
Yesterday at 8:11 am by Rocky
» Prime Minister's Advisor: We will see the dollar fall on the black market soon
Yesterday at 8:09 am by Rocky
» The Sunni blocs are resolute. The presidency of the Council is ours, away from Al-Halbousi
Yesterday at 8:08 am by Rocky
» Al-Sudani discusses with a workers’ organization his government’s steps in this field
Yesterday at 7:58 am by Rocky
» Parliament holds its session in the presence of 170 deputies
Yesterday at 7:57 am by Rocky
» In the presence of Nechirvan Barzani and Al-Sudani... the State Administration Coalition holds an “i
Yesterday at 7:55 am by Rocky
» The UAE company ADNOC resorts to Iraqi oil. Find out the reasons
Yesterday at 7:53 am by Rocky
» The Iraqi Parliament votes to add an item to elect a president to its agenda
Yesterday at 7:52 am by Rocky