Green Party calls for election recount in 3 states

By Emily Johnston, Opinion Editor

Photo obtained from jill2016.com
Photo obtained from jill2016.com

Jill Stein started a campaign to have Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania recount their votes in November in order to see if Clinton can overturn the vote toward her.

“What we have are predictors that if tampering took place, it would be most likely to be discovered in the three states where we are looking,” the green party candidate said to Anderson Cooper on “Anderson Cooper 360” on Nov. 28. Stein filed for a statewide recount in Wisconsin and Michigan while also filing for a partial one in Pennsylvania after collecting 7 million dollars in donations for the effort.

Wisconsin agreed to a speedy recount, saying that they wish to finish it before the federal deadline on Dec. 13. The state refused Stein’s request for a hand recount, but the Clinton campaign agreed to help out with the Wisconsin recount. A judge on Dec. 9 has stated he will hold a hearing to stop the recount since Trump still leads by 22,000 votes.

Trump’s team has moved to block the recount in Pennsylvania, citing the whole thing as a Green Party ploy to get attention. Stein refused to pay the $1 million cost to recount in Pennsylvania, saying it is an insane amount of money, so she has moved to a federal court to file a recount. Although she said that she will call off the recount in Pennsylvania, she now says that she will escalate her efforts to have a statewide recount.

Judges in Michigan have called to immediately begin a recount. The Michigan Board of Canvassers decided to deadlock Trump’s move to block the recount in the state, allowing the recount efforts to continue. Their recount has since ended with Trump winning the state.

If the three states move to Hillary Clinton, she would win the Electoral College with 278 votes; however, Stein herself said this is unlikely, and the results of the recount have shown that it will not happen. Even though she thinks no change will come from the recounts, Stein said, “We must recount the votes so we can build trust in our election system.”