Jill Stein Successfully Petitions for Vote Recount in Wisconsin; Targets Two More States

image
Published: 25 Nov, 2016
Updated: 17 Oct, 2022
2 min read

Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein has successfully petitioned for a vote recount in Wisconsin, and is expected to push further challenges in Michigan and Pennsylvania. Stein has raised over $4 million on GoFundMe to pay for the recounts, and is now aiming for $7 million to pay for filing and recount expenses and lawyer fees.

Wisconsin state officials confirmed Friday that the state will indeed conduct a recount in the presidential race, a state President-elect Donald Trump won narrowly and helped him secure an Electoral College victory. Stein, who placed a distant fourth in the race, is also expected to petition for a recount in Pennsylvania, another state Trump flipped on Election Day, and Michigan.

https://twitter.com/WI_Elections/status/802264791737716736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

"After a divisive and painful presidential race, reported hacks into voter and party databases and individual email accounts are causing many Americans to wonder if our election results are reliable. These concerns need to be investigated before the 2016 presidential election is certified." Stein said in a statement Wednesday. "We deserve elections we can trust."

The Clinton campaign has reportedly rebuffed attempts to get it to back Stein's efforts. The same reports say Clinton's team is not making a move because there have been no reports of widespread ballot tampering or voter fraud. Even after computer scientists implored Clinton to contest the vote totals in key states, her campaign remains silent.

Recounts in one or all three states would mean a hand count of all the ballots, including the ballots cast on voting machines, which are currently the votes being disputed the most.

"This is not being done to benefit one candidate at the expense of the other," Stein said on the PBS NewsHour. "This is being done because Americans, you know, come out of this election not happy campers."

It is important to note that according to the fine print on Stein's website, there is no guarantee that the funds raised will go to the recount effort. Surplus money, it says, will go to "election integrity efforts and to promote voting system reform." The donation terms do not specify exactly what this means.
Photo Source: NBC News

Latest articles

CA capitol building dome with flags.
Why is CA Senator Mike McGuire Trying to Kill the Legal Cannabis Industry?
California’s legal cannabis industry is under mounting pressure, and in early June, state lawmakers and the governor appeared poised to help. A bill to freeze the state’s cannabis excise tax at 15% sailed through the State Assembly with a unanimous 74-0 vote. The governor’s office backed the plan. And legal cannabis businesses, still struggling to compete with unregulated sellers and mounting operating costs, saw a glimmer of hope....
03 Jul, 2025
-
7 min read
I voted buttons
After First RCV Election, Charlottesville Voters Back the Reform: 'They Get It, They Like It, They Want to Do It Again'
A new survey out of Charlottesville, Virginia, shows overwhelming support for ranked choice voting (RCV) following the city’s first use of the system in its June Democratic primary for City Council. Conducted one week after the election, the results found that nearly 90% of respondents support continued use of RCV....
03 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read
Crowd in Time Square.
NYC Exit Survey: 96% of Voters Understood Their Ranked Choice Ballots
An exit poll conducted by SurveyUSA on behalf of the nonprofit better elections group FairVote finds that ranked choice voting (RCV) continues to be supported by a vast majority of voters who find it simple, fair, and easy to use. The findings come in the wake of the city’s third use of RCV in its June 2025 primary elections....
01 Jul, 2025
-
6 min read