Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein filed for a recount of votes Monday in Pennsylvania, one of three battleground states where President-elect Donald Trump won in his Electoral College victory.
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Although the Clinton campaign and supporters are keen, as they say, for every vote to be counted, a voter recount is not likely to overturn the election result.
This time, his tweets popped up just one day after Clinton’s campaign said it had agreed to participate in a recount effort in Wisconsin pushed by Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
Trump’s win in MI gives the Republican 306 electoral votes to Democrat Hillary Clinton’s 232.
In a tweet on Sunday, Trump blasted Hillary Clinton’s campaign for its involvement in a recount that was requested by the Green Party in Wisconsin. If she raises more money than is needed for the recount itself – including multimillion-dollar attorney fees – her campaign will use the surplus for “election integrity efforts and to promote voting system reform”.
In Michigan, Stein’s lawyer notified election officials Monday that she will file a recount petition on Wednesday.
University of MI computer scientist J. Alex Halderman said in an affidavit attached to Stein’s recount request that hackers could spread malware into voting machines in battleground states and their work would be virtually undetectable.
Trump’s total vote lead over Clinton in the three states is about 100,000. She has sought volunteers to file affidavits demanding a recount, as a candidate can force a recount only through a court intervention in the State.
There is recount drama resulting from the 2016 election, but it’s not being initiated by Trump loyalists. But other news outlets, like CBS, have reported that the recount deadline varies from district to district, and that some may not expire until Monday or Tuesday. Any cost above the $125 per precinct paid for by Stein’s fundraising efforts would be incurred by the counties. She asked for donations and received over $6 million for the recount efforts.
The recounts would not change the election outcome for Stein, who finished fourth behind Libertarian Gary Johnson, but there is a very small chance they could flip the states for Clinton.
And though dates for objections and hearings could push the start of any recount well into December, Thomas said election officials are planning to start a recount this Friday and work through the weekend, dealing with any objections as they come in.
Stein, though, has proclaimed the machine-based recount a violation of her petition.
The president-elect said Sunday the recounts will not change the results of the election. Enact a national “right to vote” law to guarantee universal, automatic, permanent voter registration. Jill Stein also officially demanded Pennsylvania’s vote recount. Even if she overcomes this major hurdle, there’s this problem: Pennsylvania relies on electronic voting machines and there is no paper ballot or receipts to look at in a recount.
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It is easy to tell people to accept the results when you think you are going to win.
