2016 Election Results Call for Recount

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Due to the irregularity of the votes, some states will be having a recount.

Rachel Casey, Staff Reporter

After the close election race and the unpredicted victory of Donald Trump, Green Party candidate Jill Stein has taken interest in a ballot recount in some of the country’s key states in the presidential election.

It was a close race for candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election, which took place almost a month ago. Trump pulled out on top, gaining the majority of the electoral college votes; however, Clinton, despite not winning the election, received a higher percentage of the popular vote.

Election recounts are currently planned to take place in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. Due to the irregularity of the vote and the commonly found error of election predictions, some, like Jill Stein, suspect a miscount or voter fraud.

“You don’t know unless you actually count the paper ballots,” Stein said while discussing the election recounts on The View, “and if you count the paper ballots then we can be confident about what the number is, and…we can find out whether there is evidence of tampering or machine error…whether there’s been hacking, [or] human error. We need to have our confidence restored in what we got.”

Stein has enlisted workers in Wisconsin, the first state to begin recounts. They work towards the goal of finishing by December 13th, as federal law mandates all recounts be completed a maximum of 35 days after the election.

Many may wonder what exactly Stein’s goals are for this ballot recount, but she has made it clear that it is not for the purpose of turning around the election results or promoting another candidate over Trump. Stein believes this recount will resume faith in the country’s overall election process.

“We’re really here to help voters feel like we’ve got a system that’s working,” Stein stated in an interview.

Orchestrating a large scale vote recount in three states is not an easy or inexpensive process by any means. According to the New York Post, Stein has raised nearly seven million dollars in support of the ballot recount, totaling to an amount double her presidential campaign funds.

Recent news has also shown that the Clinton campaign is now supporting the recount; however, Jill Stein has stated that “there is no formal contact” between the two groups.

Within the next few days, the recounts for both Michigan and Pennsylvania are predicted to begin. And no matter what the outcome, Stein has assured Americans that this event is solely an attempt to increase the overall security for future presidential elections.