Elections chief tells clerks to be professional

LANSING, Mich. (AP) --Wisconsin's elections chief is telling local clerks that he knows they're frustrated with trying to complete a presidential recount in less than two weeks.

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein requested the recount. It's slated to begin Thursday and must be completed by Dec. 13 or Congress could gain control of the state's electoral votes.

Commission Administrator Mike Haas held a teleconference with clerks Wednesday to walk them through final preparations.

Twice Haas acknowledged they're unhappy with conducting a recount during the holiday season on behalf of a candidate who got only 30,000 votes in Wisconsin. But he told them he hopes they've accepted that the recount must be conducted, by law, and that it will be done professionally.

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MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Wisconsin election officials are set to hold their last meeting with county clerks before launching a presidential recount.

The recount is set to start Thursday. The Wisconsin Election Commission plans to meet with the clerks via teleconference and an online seminar Wednesday morning. The agenda calls for discussing counting procedures, how to treat absentee ballots, how to review provisional ballots and how to track expenses.

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein requested the recount, alleging without evidence that the state's electronic voting machines may have been hacked. The commission had to grant that request under state law. Stein also wanted all 72 counties to conduct the recount by hand, but the commission refused to order that and a Dane County judge affirmed that decision late Tuesday evening.