Wisconsin Recount Day 6: Will the State Finish on Time?

wisconsin recount

Tabulators hand count ballots on the presidential recount on December 1, 2016 at the Green County Courthouse in Monroe, Wisconsin. Green Party candidate Jill Stein has requested Wisconsin and other states to recount the U.S. presidential election. (Getty)

The Wisconsin recount had almost entered its halfway mark on the morning of December 6. With the state’s 10 electoral votes possibly at stake, how close is Wisconsin to finishing its recount?

Six of the state’s 72 counties had completed the recount and fewer than half of the state’s votes had been recounted as of the morning of December 6.

Another 12 counties had not submitted any recounted returns, and the rest of the counties had submitted partial returns, according to the Wisconsin Election Commission day 5 spreadsheet (posted December 5.) Some of the counties with partial returns are close to finishing, though.

The deadline is 8 p.m. December 12 to complete the recount. The state needs to certify its recount results by December 13 to ensure they count when the Electoral College votes on December 19.

As of the morning of December 6:

Votes counted for Trump so far: 621,099
Votes counted for Clinton so far: 551,200
Votes counted for Castle so far: 5,359
Votes counted for Johnson so far: 43,602
Votes counted for Stein so far: 12,231
Votes counted for Moorehead so far: 740
Votes counted for DeLaFuente so far: 653

Total votes counted so far in recount: 1,234,884
The recount spreadsheet only lists tallies for the above candidates.

Total number of votes cast in the 2016 presidential election in Wisconsin: 2,975,313 overall. Total votes for the above candidates in original returns: 2,938,853. Thus, about 42% of the original returns for the above candidates are completed (there have been some changes, but they only number in the hundreds of votes).

Original results for Wisconsin, per the Election Commission:

Trump: 1,404,000
Clinton: 1,381,823
Castle: 12,156
Johnson: 106,585
Stein: 31,006
Moorehead: 1,769
De La Fuente: 1,514
Cherunda Fox: 44
McMullin: 9,998
Maturen: 243
(A few other scattering and write ins)

If Wisconsin does not complete its recount on time, and officials have said they believe the state will do so, its electoral votes could be in jeopardy (although even that dramatic scenario would not be enough to change the election results due to Donald Trump’s large lead in the Electoral College.)

Read more about the day 5 election results here, in terms of net gained and lost votes. Donald Trump overall has gained a couple dozen votes in the first 5 days of the recount.

According to Wisconsin Election Commission spreadsheets, as of December 5, these counties had completed the recount:

Menominee
Crawford
Forest
Green Lake
Iron
Price


Counties with partial returns submitted

Adams
Barron
Brown
Buffalo
Burnett
Calumet
Chippewa
Clark
Columbia
Dane
Dodge
Door
Douglas
Dunn
Eau Claire
Fond du Lac
Grant
Green
Iowa
Jackson
Jefferson
Juneau
Kenosha
Kewaunee
Lafayette
Langlade
Manitowoc
Marathon
Marinette
Marquette
Milwaukee
Monroe
Oneida
Outagamie
Ozaukee
Pierce
Polk
Portage
Racine
Richland
Rock
Sauk
Sawyer
Shawano
St. Croix
Trempeleau
Walworth
Washburn
Washington
Waukesha
Waupaca
Waushara
Winnebago
Wood


Counties with no returns submitted

Ashland
Bayfield
Florence
La Crosse
Lincoln
Oconto
Pepin
Rusk
Sheboygan
Taylor
Vernon
Vilas