MONROE - Wisconsin recount efforts have ended for two local counties with no changes in totals for the top four presidential candidates.
Green County Clerk Mike Doyle said the hand-counted ballots took 18.5 hours to count as workers finished their tallies at 11:30 a.m. Monday. With three members of the Board of Canvassers, Doyle, his deputy clerk and four others to take tallies, Doyle said the task consumed nearly a week of time which could have been used for other duties.
"For 18 hours we actually counted, but it took up a week of our time we don't have at this time of year," Doyle said.
In the results, the only change found was a bump for Evan McMullin, who received an additional 12 votes as a registered write-in candidate. Doyle said the task will include a few more hours of work today, when the materials will be distributed back to local municipal clerks.
In Green County, 9,122 voted for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, while 8,693 voters chose President-elect Donald Trump. Libertarian Gary Johnson received 687 votes. Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who initiated the recount in Wisconsin, received 196 votes.
Doyle noted he was not surprised by the outcome. He said the machines the county has used for tabulation have been "always right on the money" and the newer equipment leased over eight years for $500,000 was in excellent condition.
In Lafayette County, Clerk Linda Bawden encountered similar findings. The hand count began Thursday and finished at noon Monday with 10 people counting ballots at the end of last week and seven counting Monday. Bawden echoed her lack of shock at the identical totals and lamented the lost time needed for other work.
"I'm not surprised at all," Bawden said. "We're way behind now in the clerk's office."
Totals again reflected 3,977 votes for Trump, 3,288 for Clinton, 238 for Johnson and 49 for Stein.
According to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, federal law dictates that recount totals need to be reported by Dec. 13.
Green County Clerk Mike Doyle said the hand-counted ballots took 18.5 hours to count as workers finished their tallies at 11:30 a.m. Monday. With three members of the Board of Canvassers, Doyle, his deputy clerk and four others to take tallies, Doyle said the task consumed nearly a week of time which could have been used for other duties.
"For 18 hours we actually counted, but it took up a week of our time we don't have at this time of year," Doyle said.
In the results, the only change found was a bump for Evan McMullin, who received an additional 12 votes as a registered write-in candidate. Doyle said the task will include a few more hours of work today, when the materials will be distributed back to local municipal clerks.
In Green County, 9,122 voted for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, while 8,693 voters chose President-elect Donald Trump. Libertarian Gary Johnson received 687 votes. Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who initiated the recount in Wisconsin, received 196 votes.
Doyle noted he was not surprised by the outcome. He said the machines the county has used for tabulation have been "always right on the money" and the newer equipment leased over eight years for $500,000 was in excellent condition.
In Lafayette County, Clerk Linda Bawden encountered similar findings. The hand count began Thursday and finished at noon Monday with 10 people counting ballots at the end of last week and seven counting Monday. Bawden echoed her lack of shock at the identical totals and lamented the lost time needed for other work.
"I'm not surprised at all," Bawden said. "We're way behind now in the clerk's office."
Totals again reflected 3,977 votes for Trump, 3,288 for Clinton, 238 for Johnson and 49 for Stein.
According to the Wisconsin Elections Commission, federal law dictates that recount totals need to be reported by Dec. 13.