Local News
County Clerk’s Office Prepared if Recount Were to Happen
The race for
governor has been conceded – and the margin of victory was just large enough to
prevent a recount. But
Lisa
tells us her staff is always ready in the case of an extremely close race.
Freiberg says “I am very
prepared for a recount because I’ve had so many in the last ten years. And I’m
already getting everything in order as the municipalities are coming in.
Fortunately I have very seasoned, experienced municipal clerks and they’re
already saying to me ‘okay we know what we have to gather together.’”
She adds that “we always run every election as if there is going to be a potential recount. It doesn’t matter if it’s a general election or a spring election or the spring primaries. I’m confident that we’re ready for the recount, and we will find what errors did occur at the polling locations when we do recounts, there’s no doubt about that.”
Freiberg also points out that if a recount were to happen, “a potential recount would not start until the end of November because the election needs to be certified by the state. So it starts out down at the local level here at the county – Fond du Lac County will be holding their board of canvass next Monday morning at 9:00am, right here. Once those results are certified in Fond du Lac County, that gets sent to the state.”
A recount would also give the county a chance to show how important newer
election technology can be. Freiberg says it would allow them to “prove to the voters
that our equipment is doing what it’s – the cost of it. Because that equipment
was not cheap and it’s a continuing maintenance and the cost for it and
everything – but all in all, it’s well worth the money and to be able to have
those unofficial results in a timely manner on Election Night, which is what
people are looking for.”
Attorney General Brad Schimel has yet to concede his close race to the apparent winner, Josh Kaul. Schimel says he is waiting for every county canvass to come back before he decides whether to call for a recount or concede the race. The loser of a race must be within one-percent of the total votes of the winner to demand a recount in the state of Wisconsin.