WASHINGTON (AP) — Thursday’s political coverage (all times EST):

Trump to meet Dem Sen. Heitkamp of North Dakota

Updated: 10:45 a.m.: Donald Trump’s transition team says the incoming president will meet on Friday with North Dakota Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, a Democrat up for re-election in 2018.

Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence plan to talk with Heitkamp at Trump Tower in New York. Trump won Heitkamp’s home state with an overwhelming majority in the presidential election.

Trump spokesman Jason Miller says Heitkamp “comes very highly recommended, very highly qualified as a proven leader and would be an asset in any role or capacity.”

Heitkamp says in a statement she’s appreciative of the meeting and says that “whatever job I do, I hope to work with the president-elect” and her colleagues in Congress to help North Dakota.

Clinton, Stein and Trump reps at Wisconsin recount

Updated: 10:30 a.m.: Observers representing Democrat Hillary Clinton, Republican Donald Trump and Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein are spread out throughout Wisconsin to watch as ballots are recounted.

Trump’s Wisconsin campaign director Pete Meachum was in Madison on Thursday for the start of the recount. Meachum says the campaign had people in every major county across the state. Trump won Wisconsin by about 22,000 votes, or less than a percentage point.

Stein has raised questions about the integrity of votes cast in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan without presenting any proof of wrongdoing.

Stein said in a statement that “verifying the vote through this recount is the only way to confirm that every vote has been counted securely and accurately and is not compromised by machine or human error, or by tampering or hacking.”

Wisconsin recount underway

Updated: 9 a.m.: The recounting of the presidential election results in Wisconsin is underway. It’s the first candidate-driven recount in the United States since Florida in 2000.

Green Party candidate Jill Stein requested the recount that started Thursday, even though she has no chance of picking up the roughly 1.3 million votes needed to win. Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton by about 22,000 votes in Wisconsin.

Stein says she wants a recount to ensure ballot tabulating machines were not compromised by hackers.

Workers in 72 counties across the state began recounting ballots at 9 a.m. They have until 8 p.m. Dec. 12 to finish.

In Madison, about 40 workers gathered in two conference rooms overflowing with sealed bags of ballots from across the county.

Wisconsin presidential ballot recount ready to begin

Updated: 8:40 a.m.: Vote counters, observers, reporters and curious onlookers are filling the hallway outside two large conference rooms in a downtown office building in Madison, Wisconsin, where a recount of the presidential race is about to begin.

Similar scenes are playing out across the state Thursday as the recount requested by Green Party candidate Jill Stein gets underway. All 72 counties were required to start by 9 a.m. They have less than two weeks to recount nearly 3 million ballots. The deadline to complete it is Dec. 13, but the state Elections Commission gave counties until 8 p.m. Dec. 12 to finish.

Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell walked down the hallway in Madison about an hour before the recount was to begin, bringing coffee for those about to begin the recount.

Stein has also requested recounts in Pennsylvania and Michigan. Almost no one expects the recounts to result in a victory for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton over President-elect Donald Trump.

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