Wisconsin recount: Waukesha County officials caught illegally hiding ballots from observers
Four days into the Wisconsin statewide recount, one county in particular has emerged as the epicenter of controversy and corruption. Donald Trump won Waukesha County by a total of 66,320 votes, a margin three times as large as he won Wisconsin by overall. The county is refusing to do a hand recount, instead relying on the same machines which produced the original totals. Earlier today we reported that one recount observer had outright accused Waukesha officials of double-counting Trump’s votes. And now Jill Stein is expanding on the Waukesha scandal.
Jill Stein, the third party candidate who initiated the recount effort in Wisconsin and two other states, sent out the following message to her recount observers. Palmer Report has obtained a verified copy of the email in question. In it, Stein formally accuses Waukesha County officials of violating the law by purposely hiding ballots from the observers:
While most counties are conducting their recounts in clear and transparent fashion, we have gotten reports of observers not being allowed near the recount tables or not being allowed to view the ballots. For instance, in Waukesha County, officials are entering the ballots in to the machine face down. Remember, we have a legal right to see the ballots.
Wisconsin law reads in part: Each party to a recount must be given an opportunity to object and provide offers of evidence on: the procedures followed, any ballot cast at the election, any other issues presented to the board of canvassers during the recount.
Notably, Waukesha County is just one of twelve Wisconsin counties, out of seventy-two counties overall, which are refusing to a hand recount. The increasing level of fraud and illegal activity on the part of Waukesha recount observers may give Stein sufficient cause to convince the judge in question to order the county to do a hand recount.
Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report