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Six observers had to be removed by sheriff’s deputies in the first four days of the recount, County Clerk George Christenson said. An observer had to be kicked out twice. A “handful” of other observers were also asked to leave, but not by the police, he said.
“On Friday and Saturday we had some very aggressive Trump campaign watchers telling election officials what to do, harassing election officials, intimidating election officials, violating physical distancing and saying they would oppose in every poll because they didn’t… like the physical distancing rules, ”said a Milwaukee election official who was not authorized to speak on the issue.
“It’s wild here,” the official said.
On Monday, a Biden watcher was removed from his post after an altercation with a Trump watcher where social distancing rules were violated, Christenson told CNN.
“It’s definitely a very controversial atmosphere that we’re living in right now, politically. There were some very zealous observers at times. And that died out over the course of each day,” Christenson said.
Milwaukee County contains Milwaukee, the largest city in the state and is home to the largest black population in Wisconsin. Biden defeated Trump by 317,251 votes to 134,355 in that county, according to unofficial results from the Wisconsin Election Commission. Biden won the state by about 20,000 votes.
As of Tuesday evening, Christenson said, about 380,000 of the approximately 460,000 votes cast in Milwaukee County have been processed for the recount so far, with the city of Milwaukee mostly counted and there are only two more municipalities left to process.
The official tally from the Wisconsin Election Commission, which lags behind counties, shows Trump lost six votes and Biden won three in Milwaukee County, with 16% of municipalities completed.
The count takes place at the Wisconsin Center, a convention center in downtown Milwaukee. Dozens of folding tables split in half with acrylic glass line a massive windowless room with fluorescent lights and concrete floors. People walk around with stickers identifying their role; some say “ELECTORAL OFFICIAL”, “SUBMITTED OBSERVER” or “TRUMP OBSERVER”.
There had been three chairs for observers at each counting table: one seat for a Trump watcher, one for a Biden watcher, and one for a third-party watcher if there was one.
However, the rules had to be changed after some Trump watchers who were present on Friday returned on Saturday pretending to be third party watchers, the official said.
After complaints from several clerks on the matter, the Wisconsin Election Commission issued a decision to remove every third president unless there is already a third-party observer seated in the chair, according to the official.
In one case, a woman physically assaulted an election worker who removed her jacket from a third-party observer seat at one table, while the woman sat as a Trump observer at another table. The woman was abducted by a sheriff’s deputy, although no charges have been filed, the official said.
In another incident, a Trump watcher who did not cover his nose with his face mask was repeatedly asked to wear his mask correctly in accordance with the guidelines of the Election Commission. He was withdrawn after ignoring requests.
The man returned the next day. When an election official told the man he had to wear his mask correctly, the man took off the mask, told the official he knew where the official lived, and recited the official’s home address. . The man was kidnapped by an MP for threatening behavior.
“There are no restrictions on who can be a recount observer,” Wisconsin Election Commission spokesman Reid Magney told CNN. Observers are not required to be residents of the state, nor to be registered or affiliated with the campaign for which they are observing.
On Tuesday, however, Christenson said the operation was going better. “There was growing pains for sure. As you can see, it’s a really big operation,” he said. “We have tried to quickly resolve these issues in the bud.”
Correction: This story has been updated with the correct spelling by Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenson. It was also updated with the progress of the recount starting Tuesday night.
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