EXPLAINER: What's ahead for Wis. Republican's election audit

MADISON, Wis. (AP) —

A Wisconsin lawmaker has taken the unprecedented step of demanding clerks in two counties turn over all ballots and voting equipment used in the 2020 presidential election for what the Republican is calling a “cyber-forensic” review of the results. Here are the key takeaways from state Rep. Janel Brandtjen's push to reexamine Joe Biden's victory in Wisconsin.

WHAT EXACTLY DID BRANDTJEN DO?

Court challenges and a partial recount in Milwaukee and Dane counties confirmed Biden defeated former President Donald Trump by about 20,000 votes in Wisconsin. But Trump has refused to accept defeat, demanding Wisconsin Republicans investigate the results. Brandtjen, the leader of the Assembly's elections committee, issued subpoenas Friday to clerks in Milwaukee County and in Brown County, which includes Green Bay. She demanded they appear before the committee on Sept. 7 and turn over all the ballots and voters' names and addresses. She also wants their election equipment, from tabulation machines to servers. No one has subpoenaed election equipment before in Wisconsin.

WHY DID SHE TARGET THOSE TWO COUNTIES?

Milwaukee County officials posted results that ultimately catapulted Biden to victory early in the morning after Election Day. Republicans have questioned that timing, though that's how long it took to count ballots, including thousands of absentees. Biden crushed Trump in that county, with more than 69% of the vote. In Brown County, where Trump actually took 52% of the vote, the GOP also has accused Green Bay Mayor Eric Genrich of letting Facebook-funded consultant Michael Spitzer-Rubenstein run that city's election, going so far as handing Spitzer-Rubenstein the keys to the city's ballot counting location. Genrich's office and city attorneys have said...