US polls: Vote recount in Wisconsin
Don narrowly won battleground state by 22,000 votes
Wisconsin’s election board agreed on Friday to conduct a statewide recount of votes cast in the presidential race, as requested by a Green Party candidate seeking similar reviews in two other states where Donald Trump scored narrow wins.
The recount process, including an examination by hand of the nearly 3 million ballots tabulated in Wisconsin, is expected to
The chance of overturning the overall result of the November 8 election is considered very slim, even if all three states go along with the recount
begin late next week after Green Party candidate Jill Stein’s campaign has paid the required fee, the Elections Commission said. The state faces a Dec. 13 federal deadline to complete the recount, which may require canvassers in Wisconsin’s 72 counties to work evenings and weekends to finish the job in time, according to the commission.
The recount fee has yet to be determined, the agency said. Ms Stein said in a Facebook message on Friday that the sum was expected to run to about $1.1 million.
She said she has raised at least $5 million from donors for recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — three battleground states where Mr Trump edged out Hillary Clinton by relatively thin margins. She said her goal is to raise $7 million.
Her effort may have given a ray of hope to dispirited Clinton supporters, but the chance of overturning the overallresult of the Nov. 8 election is considered very slim, even if all three states go along with the recount.
Wisconsin, one of three battleground US states won by President-elect Donald Trump, will undergo votes recounting after it received two petitions in this regard from a third-party candidate who alleged that Russian hackers may have infiltrated voting systems.
Votes cast in the state of Wisconsin, having 10 presidential electoral college votes, will be recounted.
Green Party candidate Jill Stein filed the request for recounting of votes before the deadline on Friday and said it has raised more than $5.2 million for recounting of votes.
In a statement, Ms Stein said the reliability of voting machines needs to be “investigated” after suspicions about Russian hackers seeking to infiltrate voting systems.
“Election integrity experts have independently identified Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as states where “statistical anomalies” raised concerns.
Ms Stein said she also plans to challenge the presidential election results in Pennsylvania and Michigan, where Mr Trump won.
Wisconsin poll commission administrator Michael Haas said they are preparing to move forward with a statewide recount of votes for President of the United States, as requested by candidate.
“We have assembled an internal team to direct the recount, we have been in close consultation with our county clerk partners,
Election integrity experts identified Pennsylvania and Wisconsin as states where statistical anomalies raised concerns Jill Stein, Green Party Candidate
and have arranged for legal representation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice,” Mr Haas said.
The State Election Commission plans to hold a teleconference meeting for county clerks next week and anticipate the recount will begin late in the week after the Stein campaign has paid the recount fee.
The State is still calculating the recount fee. “Our effort to recount votes in those states is not intended to help Hillary Clinton,” according to her fundraising page.
“These recounts are part of an election integrity movement to attempt to shine a light on just how untrustworthy the US election system is,” it said.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission said it plans to complete the recount of votes by December 10.
The Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump narrowly won the Wisconsin by a narrow margin of 22,000 votes.
The President-elect got 1,404,000 votes against his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton’s 1,381,823. Ms Stein of the Green Party received a total of 31,006 votes.