James B. Nelson

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

If the election for the governor of Wisconsin goes to a recount — a prospect raised by supporters of Gov. Scott Walker who lost to Tony Evers by more than 30,000 votes —the rules will be different than the last time a recount was held.

That's because Walker and the Republican-led state Legislatures tightened the state's recount law last year.

The new state law says that a candidate who loses by 1 percent or less can demand a recount.

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Evers won by 30,849 votes of about 2.5 million cast, a margin of victory of 1.1 percentage points. That puts the recount just outside of the threshold in the newly enacted law.

Early Wednesday morning, Lt. Governor Rebecca Kleefisch said a recount was a likely prospect during a brief appearance at Walker's election party in Waukesha County. But the campaign later said she made those comments before realizing 47,000 absentee ballots in Milwaukee had not yet been counted, which swung the race to Evers.

Here are some recount rules:

What triggers a recount?

A candidate can request a recount only if they lost by 1 percentage point or less in an election with at least 4,000 votes total.

ELECTION RESULTS: Wisconsin and Milwaukee-area midterm races

FULL COVERAGE:2018 Wisconsin Elections

What's the Evers-Walker total?

According to unofficial totals, Evers won 1,324,648 votes compared with 1,293,799 for Walker. That a difference of 30,849 votes, a margin of 1.1 percentage points.

Who would pay for a recount?

The losing candidate, in most cases. In her remarks, Kleefisch said: "We may need resources and volunteers like we have never seen in Wisconsin."

Taxpayers pay for a recount if the difference between the leading candidate is 0.25 percent or less.

Why was the law changed?

In 2016, Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein sought a recount in Wisconsin even though she had received just 1 percent of the vote. Her campaign paid $3.5 million for the recount, which did not change the outcome of Donald Trump's victory in Wisconsin.

Republicans said the recount was a waste of time and later tightened the rules.

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When was the last recount for a state race?

Wisconsin's last statewide recount was in 2011 for a state Supreme Court seat and the outcome did not change. The recount showed Justice David Prosser defeated challenger JoAnne Kloppenburg by 7,004 votes.

POLITIFACT WISCONSIN on RECOUNTS

Where can I read the Wisconsin recount rules?

The Wisconsin Elections Commission has posted a 15-page recount manual on its website.

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