Wisconsin Recount Laws
This information was updated 11/5/2022.
Mixed paper ballot and DREs with VVPAT (hand marked paper ballots and ballot marking devices.)
For more details, visit Verified Voting.
Mix of hand count and retabulation
Counting method chosen by election official
Hand counted paper ballots and optically scanned paper ballots are normally retabulated on an automatic tabulator. Recount initiators may petition the court for a recount to be conducted by hand, though the law specifies that the burden of proof is on the petitioner to justify a hand count. However, the board of canvassers may, at their discretion, chose to conduct a recount by hand. Votes cast on direct-recording electronic machines (DREs) can be recounted by detaching, and counting by hand, the voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT). Wisconsin Statutes (Wis. Stat) § 5.90(1) & (2).
“If municipalities employ direct recording electronic (DRE) voting equipment, the board of canvassers shall perform the recount using the voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) cast by each elector, as generated by the equipment.” 2022 Wisconsin Election Administration Manual, page 219. See also the Wisconsin Elections Commission, Election Recount Procedures (Nov. 2020) for a description of counting methods.
Close vote margin
Candidate-initiated
Voter-initiated
“If the difference between the votes cast for the leading candidate and those cast for the petitioner or the difference between the affirmative and negative votes cast upon any referendum question is less than 10 if 4,000 or fewer votes are cast or not more than 0.25 percent of the total votes cast for the office or on the question if more than 4,000 votes are cast following canvassing of all valid provisional and absentee ballots, the petitioner is not required to pay a fee.”
Wis. Stat. § 9.01(1)(ag)1.
Close-vote-margin recounts must be requested and the petitioner is required to state that “a mistake or fraud has been committed…or that another specified defect, irregularity, or illegality occurred in the conduct of the election.” Wis. Stat. § 9.01(1)(a)(2)(b).
Timing: Wis. Stat. § 9.01(1)(a)1.
Close vote margin required
Candidate determines how many/which precincts to recount
If a candidate is not entitled to a taxpayer funded recount as defined in the close-vote-margin section, then the candidate may petition and pay for a recount if the following close-vote margins are met:
For an election at which 4,000 or fewer votes are cast for the office that the candidate seeks, a candidate who trails the leading candidate by no more than 40 votes may petition for a recount. For an election at which more than 4,000 votes are cast for the office that the candidate seeks, a candidate who trails the leading candidate by no more than 1 percent of the total votes cast for that office may petition for a recount. Wis. Stat. § 9.01(1)(a)5.
The candidate filing a recount petition may choose to select only a few wards to be included in the recount. Wis. Stat. § 9.01(1)(a)3. If the recount is not a complete recount, the opposing candidate, or any voter or other interested party has the right to request a recount in any or all of the remaining wards. Wis. Stat. § 9.01(4).
Timing: Wis. Stat. § 9.01(1)(a)1 and 9.01(1)(ar)3.
Voters may request recounts for initiatives/questions
For referendums not eligible for a close-vote-margin recount, any elector who voted upon any referendum question may petition for and assume the cost of a recount for that question. The elector may petition for the recount regardless of the difference between the affirmative and negative votes on the ballot question. Wis. Stat. § 9.01(1)(a)1.
The petitioner is required to state that “a mistake or fraud has been committed…or that another specified defect, irregularity, or illegality occurred in the conduct of the election.” Wis. Stat. § 9.01(1)(a)(2)(b).
The elector filing a recount petition may choose to select only a few wards to be included in the recount. Wis. Stat. § 9.01(1)(a)3. If the recount is not a complete recount, any voter or other interested party may petition for a recount in any or all of the remaining wards. Wis. Stat. § 9.01(4).
Timing: Wis. Stat. § 9.01(1)(a)1 & 9.01(1)(ar)3.
Paid entirely by initiator
The petitioner shall pay a fee equal to the actual cost of performing the recount in each ward or municipality for which the petition requests a recount, plus the actual cost incurred by the commission to provide services for performing the recount. Wis. Stat. § 9.01(1)(ag)2.
All fees shall be prepaid in cash or another form of payment which is acceptable to the officer to whom they are paid. Wis. Stat. § 9.01(ag)3.
Paid entirely by initiator
The petitioner shall pay a fee equal to the actual cost of performing the recount in each ward or municipality for which the petition requests a recount, plus the actual cost incurred by the commission to provide services for performing the recount. Wis. Stat. § 9.01(1)(ag)2.
All fees shall be prepaid in cash or another form of payment which is acceptable to the officer to whom they are paid. Wis. Stat. § 9.01(ag)3.
Statutes specify that recount must be public
Party/candidate or initiator has statutory authority to appoint challengers
“All steps of the recount shall be performed publicly.” “The candidates, the person demanding the recount and their authorized representatives and counsel may object to the counting of any ballot.” Wis. Stat. § 9.01(1)(b)11. “Interested persons” are allowed to observe a recount. Wis. Stat. § 9.01(3). See also the Public Health Guidance section of the Election Recount Procedures (Nov. 2020).
See this states audit law information at Verified Voting.
This information was updated 11/5/2022 using the Wisconsin Statutes updated through 2021 Wisconsin Act 267.