Douglas County Officials Prepare for Wisconsin Recount

40 election officials will hand count nearly 22,600 ballots starting Thursday morning

The Douglas County clerk’s office began preparations today for the state–wide recount of ballots in Wisconsin.

Last Friday, the Wisconsin Elections Commissions announced the state would move forward with the recount requests from Third Party presidential candidates Jill Stein and Rocky De La Fuente.

40 election officials will hand count 22,600 ballots starting Thursday morning in Douglas County, which is expected to last six to seven days.

Stein has asked a judge to order a hand recount of the nearly 3 million votes cast in Wisconsin for the presidential election.

However, Douglas County has voluntarily opted to hand count each ballot to eliminate any doubt in the process.

“I’m not aware of any issues with the tabulators or with a lot of our processes,” Douglas County clerk, Sue Sandvick told Fox 21. “There are always some irregularities and things that will need to be reviewed in regards to absentee voting, decisions that were made. I think overall we’re not going to see any significant change in the totals.”

Sandvick estimates the recount will cost nearly $57,000 in Douglas County; however the two parties requesting the recount will be obligated to reimburse all expenses.

The recount will take place in room 270 of the Douglas County Government Center in Superior and is open to the public.