Green Partys Jill Stein files recount petition for Wisconsin State

Former Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein announced on Wednesday (23 November) that she intends to file for a recount in three key states. Steins campaign revealed she would be challenging the results in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

After a divisive and painful presidential race, reported hacks into voter and party databases and individual email accounts were causing many [Americans] to wonder if our election results are reliable, Stein said in the statement.

These concerns need to be investigated before the 2016 presidential election is certified. We deserve elections we can trust.

Steins campaign manager David Cobb added: Greens have long been at the forefront of campaigns for election integrity. This effort is about holding the institutions of democracy accountable for ensuring all votes that are cast are counted.

According to Steins campaign, some of the machines used in Wisconsin were banned in California because they were deemed to be vulnerable to hacking and malicious reprogramming.

The deadline to file for a recount in Wisconsin is Friday (25 November) and will cost Steins campaign $1.1M (£884,955), which the campaign plans to crowdfund.

A Stein spokeswoman told Politico that the campaign has not filed the official paperwork for the recounts yet. Stein has launched a fundraising page on her website to acquire the necessary funds for the recount request, The Hill reported.

Stein hopes to fundraise $2.5M (£2,011,263) by Friday (25 November) to pay for the recount. At the time of publishing, the fundraising effort had raised $426,929 (£343,466).

Republican Donald Trump was declared the winner of the presidential election with 290 electoral votes. Following his surprise victory, activists have urged Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton to ask for a recount in the same three states, alleging there was evidence that the voting machines had been manipulated.

Professor J Alex Halderman of the University of Michigan, who is one of the experts urging Clinton to challenge the results, clarified on Wednesday (23 November) that he did not have evidence suggesting the election had been hacked.

However, he still recommended that the three states undergo a full audit, which is different from a recount in that the voting technology itself is tested.