Wisconsin to recount presidential vote after Green Party petition

Wisconsin to recount presidential vote after Green Party petition
By Alasdair Sandford with Reuters
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The US state says it will act after receiving Jill Stein's petition, but it's thought unlikely to affect Donald Trump's overall win.

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In the US a petition has been filed for a recount of votes in the presidential election in Wisconsin.

The Green Party candidate Jill Stein submitted an official demand for a review in the northern state, and also wants a recount in Pennsylvania and Michigan.

All were closely fought states which were taken by president-elect Donald Trump earlier this month.

The Wisconsin Electoral Commission has indicated it is ready to carry out the recount.

“The Commission is preparing to move forward with a statewide recount of votes for President of the United States, as requested by these candidates,” Commission Administrator Michael Haas said in a statement on the agency’s website.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission has received recount
petitions from both the Stein and De La Fuente campaigns https://t.co/ksJ7dP35zm

— Wisconsin Elections (@WI_Elections) November 25, 2016

Jill Stein said on Friday that her effort was aimed at assessing the integrity of the US voting system, not at undermining Donald Trump’s White House victory.

“We are not doing this to the benefit of one candidate over the other. We’re doing this for the benefit of the American public so that we can trust, that our votes are counted,” Green Party member George Martin said at a news conference in Milwaukee.

BREAKING: We've filed in Wisconsin! #Recount2016 will begin next week. Volunteer to help: https://t.co/Bvrs0iP3lvhttps://t.co/B7tS87ggpI

— Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) November 25, 2016

Trump lost the popular vote nationwide by two million votes, but won the presidency under the Electoral College system thanks to his victories in key states.

Stein has quoted experts as having been concerned about “statistical anomalies” in the voting. The ecologist, who won one percent of the national vote, has said that while there was no evidence of tampering or other voting errors in the election, only a full review in those states would give Americans confidence.

She told CNN that reports of hacking during the electoral campaign and problems with electronic equipment had raised doubts.

Stein has raised more than five million dollars for the recount campaign since Wednesday.

The defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton has not commented on Stein’s effort.

Only a win in all three states could affect the overall result – an outcome seen as extremely unlikely given the margins.

Trump beat Clinton in Pennsylvania by 70,010 votes, in Michigan by 10,704 votes and in Wisconsin by 27,257 votes.

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