Wisconsin GOP electors meet to cast their own votes too

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - Gov. Tony Evers and the nine other Democratic electors who met at the Wisconsin statehouse weren’t the only ones who gathered Monday to cast their ballots for President of the United States.

The Wisconsin Republicans had their electoral slate come together to cast their votes for President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, in hopes that the Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives count their votes instead, the Associated Press reported.

“While President Trump’s campaign continues to pursue legal options for Wisconsin, Republican electors met today in accordance with statutory guidelines to preserve our role in the electoral process with the final outcome still pending in the courts,” Wisconsin GOP Chair Andrew Hitt said in a statement on the party website.

At the same time Wisconsin's Electoral College votes were being cast for Biden, Republicans for the losing candidate Trump also met. They plan to send their votes on to Congress on the thin hope that a future court ruling could award the state to Trump.
— Scott Bauer (@sbauerAP) December 14, 2020

The Associated Press’ Scott Bauer noted that the party telegraphed this maneuver in its latest lawsuit challenging the more than 200,000 votes cast in Dane Co. and Milwaukee Co.

In a footnote, the campaign stated it wanted the electors to sign their votes and send them to Washington, so they can be counted “if there is a later determination that they are the duly appointed electors for Wisconsin.”

The Trump campaign ended up losing that case shortly before the state’s official electors gathered to give the state’s ten electoral votes to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice-President-elect Sen. Kamala Harris. That case was the last state-level one still outstanding for the Trump campaign against Wisconsin.