The Wisconsin Election Commission on Friday agreed to recount the votes cast during the November 8 United States presidential elections following a request by Green Party candidate Jill Stein [pictured above]. The state was narrowly won by Republican Party candidate Donald Trump, who got 27,257 votes more than Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, Reuters reported.
The Commission said they will begin the process of recounting the nearly three million votes cast in the elections after Stein pays the required fee. While the amount of the fee has not been decided, Stein said it would be around $1.1 million (Rs 7.53 crore approximately). The Green Party nominee said she had raised a sum of $5 million (Rs 34.26 crore approximately) for her campaign to get recounting done in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The president-elect also beat Clinton by 10,704 votes in Michigan and 70,010 votes in Pennsylvania. According to the federal government’s rule, the state will have to finish conducting the recount by December 13.
However, Stein added that her aim was to verify the integrity of the US voting system and not undo Trump’s win. She cited reports of election systems being targeted by hackers and concerns raised by security analysts as the reason for her campaign. “This was a hack-riddled election,” she said.
While Trump won way more than the required 270 electoral college votes, Clinton earned the popular vote. His win ended the Democrats’ eight-year run at the White House.
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