Waukesha Times

As Wisconsin prepares for a guaranteed recount, voters are reminded of ensuring the integrity of elections, particularly those with a slim margin, from all irregularities. 

As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, Joe Biden had been credited 49.6% of the vote with 1,630,570 votes to Donald Trump’s 48.9% with 1,610,030 votes. That is only a margin of only 20,540 votes. 

Some Wisconsinites may recall the incident of a ballot-counting error that occurred in Waukesha in 2011 resulting in 7,500 votes from one community not being counted. At issue was a hyped Wisconsin Supreme Court race between incumbent Justice David Prosser and challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg.

With a margin of 204 votes, Kloppenburg was declared the winner. 

However, a voting tabulation error discovered in Waukesha County resulted in Prosser receiving 7,500 votes which had previously gone undiscovered, reversing the decision. Waukesha County Clerk Kathy Nickolaus simply forgot to hit the “save” button when finalizing the vote, locking out the entire community of Brookfield. 

"This is not a case of extra votes or extra ballots being found," Nickolaus said at the time. "This is human error, which I apologize for." 

Nickolaus also said human error "is common in this process." 

Prosser served on the state's high court from 1998 until 2016, five years after the election was called for his opponent.

All 72 of Wisconsin's counties must complete canvassing and submit final tabulations to the Wisconsin Elections Commission before the Nov. 17 deadline. Candidates will be given an opportunity to request a recount the following day. 

The Trump campaign has already expressed its intention to request a recount in Wisconsin and other states. 

Latest vote counts show Trump trailing in Georgia by 12,651 votes, Arizona by 14,468 votes, Wisconsin by 20,540 votes, Pennsylvania by 48,997 votes and in Nevada by 36,274 votes.