Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Some recount observers are furious over poop emojis on admittance wristbands.

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Each day of the recount seems to bring some new controvers­y.

And on Tuesday morning, the controvers­y briefly turned to poop — or more specifically, poop emoji wristbands given to recount observers who arrived at the Wisconsin Center in downtown Milwaukee.

On previous days, the observer wristbands featured things like “VIP” in gold or purple lettering.

But all observers — those for Donald Trump, Joe Biden or media members — who arrived Tuesday morning had a paper wristband with smiling poop emojis affixed around their wrists to show they passed the required health screen. Some were not happy about it.

“A recount volunteer says she and others were forced to wear these bracelets to participat­e in recount,” conservati­ve radio talk show host Vicki McKenna tweeted. “Staff, attorneys and volunteers all wearing them. Do these people NOT take elections seriously?”

She called on the Wisconsin Elections Commission to explain whether the wristbands were “acceptable.”

But the state panel apparently had nothing to do with them. Neither did the Milwaukee County officials overseeing the recount.

Milwaukee County Clerk George Christenso­n dismissed the controvers­y as silly.

“I always thought it was chocolate ice cream, personally,” Christenso­n said when asked about the poop emoji wristbands. “Wisconsin Center is our vendor. They handle the logistics. They are probably just pulling what they have in stock, because this is the first opportunit­y they’ve had to be open in quite some time due to this pandemic. So again, it’s a non-issue. Everybody got one.”

Christenso­n added, “I think this shows that some people are just desperate for any controvers­y that they hope will distract from the fact that the recount is going smoothly and will confirm the results reported on election night.”

 ?? MIKE DE SISTI / MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL ?? An election observer wears a poop emoji wristband Tuesday during the presidenti­al election recount at the Wisconsin Center.
MIKE DE SISTI / MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL An election observer wears a poop emoji wristband Tuesday during the presidenti­al election recount at the Wisconsin Center.

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