Wisconsin Republican commissioners stand up for transparency in fighting for Wisconsin recounts

A new hero emerged last night in the Republican vote-counting fight. Bob Spindell, a seemingly mild-mannered but diligent conservative man who was one of six at the Wisconsin emergency meeting to shore up the manual as to how a recount would be done in his state.

He and his colleague Bob Knudsen were successful in their efforts to demand transparency and accountability in the recount process.

One issue was whether or not the manual that outlines how recounts should be done in Wisconsin should include a provision that read "the right to observe shall not be infringed based on public health mandates," and changes to  how it ought be done.

The meeting ran much later than any in attendance had expected it to as the three Republicans and three Democrats discussed how, if, and what changes should be made to their manual as to how to a recount should be done.

While colleagues attempted to make changes to the manual, and thought the emergency meeting would be cut and dry, Spindell stuck to principles of fairness and would not back down under pressure, for convenience, or just to get the meeting done. Anyone watching via live stream got an inside look at how the sausage is made in local elections governance.

"Look what happened tonight. Bob Spindell, Dean Knudson and the 2 officials in Wayne County actually stood up [to] the mob and changed the entire game. Show the Republicans how it's done. Heroes," Jack Posobiec wrote on Twitter.

Posobiec did the service of streaming the entire emergency meeting via Periscope. While Spindell's demands for fairness and transparency would undoubtedly have been lauded by many Republicans who are in favour of both a recount and fairness for that recount, it was Posobiec who turned him and his colleague Dean Knudson into heroes of fairness and reason.

Spindell walked into that election board meeting with a small following on Twitter, but after Posobiec found his account and brought it to the attention of conservative Twitter, he has over 35K followers.

Spindell and Knudson had concerns about the voting machines in Wisconsin as well, and cyber-security.

Knudson spoke out as well, saying that the staff proposals do not supercede the decisions of the election board with regard to changes being made to the manual. He refused to allow changes to be pushed through and rubber-stamped by the board without input.

After the Trump campaign requested a recount in Wisconsin, this emergency meeting was arranged so that everyone would be on the same page as to how it would be conducted. The recount will be done in Milwaukee and Dane Counties, and it will not be done with the changes that Spindell and Knudsen objected to.