- Title: U.S. recount effort aimed at testing election integrity -Green Party
- Date: 25th November 2016
- Summary: WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES (FILE - AUGUST 23, 2016) (REUTERS - Broadcasters: NONE Digital: NONE) GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE JILL STEIN WALKING TO PODIUM STEIN SPEAKING STEIN LEAVING PODIUM
- Embargoed: 10th December 2016 19:21
- Keywords: Green party Wisconsin Michigan Pennsylvania votes recount
- Location: MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES / WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES
- City: MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN, UNITED STATES / WASHINGTON, DC, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
- Reuters ID: LVA00259Y2R7R
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein said on Friday (November 25) her effort to request recounts of the election results in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania was aimed at assessing the integrity of the U.S. voting system, not at undermining Donald Trump's White House victory.
While Stein's effort this week may have spurred hope among disappointed supporters of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, the chances of such recounts - if they take place - overturning the overall result from the Nov. 8 election are extremely slim, given Trump's margins of victory in the three states.
"We are not doing this to the benefit of one candidate over the other. We're doing this for the benefit of the American public so that we can trust, that our votes are counted," Green Party member George Martin said in Milwaukee, Wisconsin during a news conference.
"The affidavit will be filed today in Madison, at that point in time we'll have a lot more understanding in terms of the detail of the recount itself. I do know that we're going to be having a reconciliation of paper records, it's called," Martin said.
Stein, who won just one percent of the national vote herself, told CNN that while there was no evidence of tampering or other voting errors in the election, only a full review in those states would give Americans confidence in the results.
The deadlines to request recounts are Friday for Wisconsin, Monday for Pennsylvania and Wednesday for Michigan. Stein has raised more than $4.9 million since launching the recount campaign on Wednesday. The Green Party said it wants to raise $7 million for recounts, including the cost of legal fees.
Although Trump won narrowly in the three states, the margins make it highly unlikely that any recounts would end up giving Clinton a win in all three states, which would be needed for the overall result to change. The Republican beat Clinton in Pennsylvania by 70,010 votes, in Michigan by 10,704 votes and in Wisconsin by 27,257 votes.
The presidential race is decided by the Electoral College, or a tally of wins from the state-by-state contests, rather than by the popular national vote. The Electoral College results are expected to be finalized when electors meet on Dec. 19.
Trump surpassed the 270 electoral votes needed to win, although once the final tallies of votes are in, Clinton will have won the national popular vote by more than 2 million votes. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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