Trump calls for Wisconsin recount

President Trump has called for a recount in the key battleground of Wisconsin as polls showed Joe Biden ahead by less than one per cent, with 98 per cent of votes counted.

If Biden wins Wisconsin, it will be a huge blow to Donald Trump, as it means Mr Biden will only have to win either Michigan or Pennsylvania, while Mr Trump would need to claim both.

In Wisconsin, if a race is within one percentage point, the trailing candidate can force a recount.

President Donald Trump’s campaign manager Bill Stepien has already said the leader will “immediately” request a recount in the state.

There have been reports of irregularities in several Wisconsin counties which raise serious doubts about the validity of the results,” campaign manager Bill Stepien said in a statement. “The president is well within the threshold to request a recount and we will immediately do so.”

Earlier, Wisconsin Democratic party chair Ben Wikler had taken to Twitter to claim his party was confident Mr Biden would win the state.
 

Absentee ballots are still being tallied in Milwaukee, Kenosha, and other cities. Based on everything we’ve seen, those ballots will decisively favor Biden. Green Bay hasn’t reported *any* results yet. When all votes are counted, we’re confident that Joe Biden will win Wisconsin.

— Ben Wikler (@benwikler) November 4, 2020

Wisconsin was a blue state from 1988 until Donald Trump snatched it last time around in 2016.

In that year, it was the fourth-closest state, and was won by the President by just 0.8 per cent.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR THE ELECTION’S OUTCOME

There may be 50 states in America, but when the votes are counted, just a handful of them – Wisconsin included – decide who wins the presidential election.

In this election, 15 states fall into the category of a “swing state” or “battleground state” – meaning they could conceivably be won by either Donald Trump or Joe Biden.

As for the rest, we already know who will win them: Mr Trump stands no chance whatsoever in Democratic Party strongholds like New York and California, for example, while he’s likely unbeatable in heavily Republican territory, like Alabama or Oklahoma.

Wisconsin, worth 10 electoral votes, was the last of the Rust Belt states that made Mr Trump President in 2016.

He was the first Republican since Ronald Reagan to win Wisconsin, albeit by just 0.77 per cent.

This is another state where Mr Biden has consistently led by a margin in the mid-single digits, so it certainly remained up for grabs.

The ultimate goal is to reach a threshold of 270 electoral votes. Winning the popular vote in any given state will earn a candidate its entire haul of electoral votes, and move them that much closer to victory.