Jill Stein launches vote recount bid in key US states

Green Party candidate Jill Stein has raised the needed funds for an election recount in three key Rustbelt states won by Donald Trump. Pennsylvania’s deadline is on Monday, and Michigan’s deadline is November 30.

Shortly after Clinton’s defeat, U.S. intelligence agencies of public assessments released a statement saying Russian hackers were behind intrusions into regional electoral computer systems and the theft of emails from Democratic officials before the election.

Wisconsin’s $1.1 million filing fee has been covered in time to file for a recount before the state’s Friday deadline.

Trump leads Clinton in Wisconsin by a little more than 27,000 votes (out of almost 3 million cast), according to WisconsinVote.org. In order to challenge the vote, a presidential candidate needs to file for the recount and pay the fees.

Halderman said the results of the election were “probably not” caused by a cyber-attack, but added ballots should be scrutinized regardless.

Academics have also said a recount is necessary, though out pollster Nate Silver disputes that there were any discrepancies in the three aformentioned states.

“We hope to do recounts in all three states”, Stein’s website states.

“We are filing these recounts in an effort to determine if we ca be confident in the reported election results”, Cobb said.

The effort merely seeks to confirm a cyberattack was not carried out to sway the machine-counted vote totals, which, according to a report by Vox.com, are tallied by optical-scan computers theoretically vulnerable to a cyberattack.

While Clinton won the popular vote over Trump by around 2 million votes, Trump came to power by securing 290 electoral college votes to Clinton’s 232.

She is also trying to raise an additional $2 million to request recounts in MI and Pennsylvania, where deadlines are next week to file the required paperwork.

NY magazine reported Tuesday that a group of election lawyers and computer scientists was urging top campaign officials to seek a recount. However, the Department of Homeland Security says it found no evidence of vote hacking.

The campaign anticipates eventually needing $6 million to $7 million to cover attorney fees and statewide recount observation costs.

People who voted using the system were greeted with the University of Michigan’s fight song – placed there by Halderman’s students.

“We’re not trying to change the election, but verify the election process and ensure that it’s as transparent as possible”, White said. Some state laws bar electors from going against the votes in their states. He now holds 290 of those votes and Clinton has 232.