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

image
Published: 25 Nov, 2016
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

You Might Also Like

Ballrooms, Ballots, and a Three-Way Fight for New York
Ballrooms, Ballots, and a Three-Way Fight for New York
The latest Independent Voter Podcast episode takes listeners through the messy intersections of politics, reform, and public perception. Chad and Cara open with the irony of partisan outrage over trivial issues like a White House ballroom while overlooking the deeper dysfunctions in our democracy. From California to Maine, they unpack how the very words on a ballot can tilt entire elections and how both major parties manipulate language and process to maintain power....
30 Oct, 2025
-
1 min read
California Prop 50 gets an F
Princeton Gerrymandering Project Gives California Prop 50 an 'F'
The special election for California Prop 50 wraps up November 4 and recent polling shows the odds strongly favor its passage. The measure suspends the state’s independent congressional map for a legislative gerrymander that Princeton grades as one of the worst in the nation....
30 Oct, 2025
-
3 min read
bucking party on gerrymandering
5 Politicians Bucking Their Party on Gerrymandering
Across the country, both parties are weighing whether to redraw congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Texas, California, Missouri, North Carolina, Utah, Indiana, Colorado, Illinois, and Virginia are all in various stages of the action. Here are five politicians who have declined to support redistricting efforts promoted by their own parties....
31 Oct, 2025
-
4 min read