The crazy November election recount effort has suddenly become a lot more expensive than people realized, raising questions as to just how much the recount is going to cost.
The Hill reports that the Wisconsin Elections Commission has determined that the recount will cost an estimated $3.5 billion–a much higher sum than expected.
“County clerks have done their best to estimate the actual costs of conducting a large recount in a relatively short time,” Michael Haas, the commission’s administrator said in a statement, per The Hill. “The estimates may vary wildly as some clerks may not have been able to precisely identify their estimated costs in the short time available for them. If the estimate turns out to be too high, the campaign will receive a refund. If the estimate is too low, they will have to pay the additional cost.”
Jill Stein referred to the whopping price tag as “exorbitant” and an “undue burden,” but she is determined to funnel through that amount of money to the Wisconsin Elections Commission by the 4:30 pm Tuesday deadline, per the Associated Press.
Stein has already called for another $2.4 million in donations, and it’s also possible for and her and Reform Party candidate Ricky de la Puente to share the cost.
Would recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania cost the same amount? That remains to be seen. USA Today estimated that the recount in Michigan would cost $787,500, and Stein has projected the recount cost to be $500,000 in Pennsylvania. However, Wisconsin was expected to cost as high as $1 million, and the actual cost was higher than that.
Stein’s recount efforts still remain a scam, as the Wisconsin Election Commission’s high cost just gives her another opportunity to fleece donors on a recount she can’t guarantee and likely won’t change the outcome of the election.
Should Wisconsin’s recount go forward, it would start on Thursday.