A recount is still underway in Wisconsin, a court rejected a recount in Michigan, Nevada’s recount is done, and Pennsylvania will have a court hearing soon.
Michigan update
Jill Stein, the former Green Party presidential candidate who garnered 1 percent of the national vote, described a Michigan court’s decision to end a recount in the state “a hot mess.”
“We are fighting for the right to vote and to make sure that every vote counts,” said Stein, 66, at the Cobo Center after the Michigan Supreme Court, according to the Detroit Free Press on Dec. 10.
She also pushed for recounts in Wisconsin, which is nearly complete and shows little change, and Pennsylvania. The federal deadline for all recounts is Dec. 13. President-elect Donald Trump won all three battleground states by a slim margin.
Stein and Green Party officials filed for recounts and lawsuits to initiate a count in the three states. They claimed that the vote may have been compromised, without providing evidence.
“We asked, ‘Do we have a voting system we can trust?’ And we got a resounding ‘no,’” Stein said, reported the Huffington Post. “We’ve exhausted what we can do here in Michigan, and I think at this point … we need to fight for those reforms. We need to fight to ensure we have a vote we can count on.”
Stein raised about $6.5 million via an online fundraiser to initiate the recounts, paying $3.5 million for the recount in Wisconsin.
Trump won Michigan by more than 10,000 votes.
Wisconsin update
With Michigan’s recount essentially over, Stein said she’s now heading to Wisconsin to oversee that recount.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission said in an update on Saturday that about 95 percent of the recount is finished.
“After Friday’s counting, 65 of 72 counties are now complete. All are on schedule to finish by Monday,” the state agency said in a statement. It added that “2,826,909 ballots have been recounted, approximately 95 percent of all presidential ballots cast (2,975,313).”
Democrat Hillary Clinton netted 25 votes over Trump in the Wisconsin recount, while Stein got an extra 68 votes.
According to the commission: “The net change is now +1,442 votes: Trump/Pence +628, Clinton/Kaine +653, Castle/Bradley +17, Johnson/Weld +76, Stein/Baraka +68, Moorehead/Lilly +14, and De la Fuente/Steinberg -14.”
Trump won Wisconsin over Clinton by about 22,000 votes.
Pennsylvania update
A decision on the recount in Pennsylvania is expected to be rendered by a federal judge on Monday. Lawyers for Stein presented their testimony on Friday from an electronic voting expert who said that the state’s voting technology is antiquated and vulnerable.
“I don’t think a cyber attack is much less likely than that,” University of Michigan professor J. Alex Halderman said, reported the Morning Call newspaper.
Michael Shamos, an ex-machine inspector for Pennsylvania, countered and said that “the scenarios that have been posited are about as likely that androids from outer space are living among us. It’s possible but there is no evidence to support it.”
Stein had described Pennsylvania’s voting machine system as a “national disgrace.”
Trump won Pennsylvania by 44,000 votes.
Nevada update
The recount of several Nevada counties, initiated by independent candidate Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente, turned up 15 votes between Clinton and Trump.
Nevada Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske said Thursday the recount is finished because the sample didn’t turn up significant errors, AP reported.
Cegavske says a review of ballots from eight precincts in four rural counties and 84 precincts in and around Las Vegas took nine votes away from Clinton and six away from Trump.
Clinton defeated Trump statewide by about 27,000 votes, out of 1.1 million votes cast.
The Electoral College will meet to elect Trump on Dec. 19. States have to have their election results certified by Dec. 13.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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