Day one of Wisconsin’s presidential vote recount narrowed the gulf between Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and President-elect Donald Trump by exactly one vote.
Trump defeated Clinton in Wisconsin’s initial tally, something a Republican presidential candidate has not done since 1988, by about one percent, or just over 22,000 votes. Still, Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who was not even remotely competitive in the election by garnering approximately the same number of total votes that Trump held over Clinton, is demanding a full recount after suggesting fraud or technological glitches may have swayed the results. Stein was able to raise more money for the recount than she raised in total for her entire campaign, which is more than a tad suspicious but seemed to make more sense when Hillary Clinton joined Stein’s recount campaign. In response to Stein’s demand and required $1.1 million fee, Wisconsin began recounting all of its ballots Thursday.
But the first results seen suggest the final tally will be very close to the original one. Only Menominee County, home to the Menominee Indian Reservation, fully reported its recounted results on the first day. It found 17 extra votes for Stein and 12 for Libertarian Gary Johnson, while removing two votes from Trump and one from Clinton. So two votes less for Trump and one vote less for Clinton amount to a one-vote Clinton swing.
That means that so far, the recount has narrowed the gap between Trump and Clinton by a single vote. I guess Clinton supporters can say that things are moving their way.
