Michigan election officials released the final vote totals Monday afternoon, after the results were officially certified by the Michigan Board of State Canvassers.
Donald Trump received 2,279,543 votes, while former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, received 2,268,839 votes. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson received 172,136 votes, while Green Party candidate Jill Stein hauled in 51,463 votes.
Jill Stein, who has been leading a recount effort in three states that were won by Trump has until Wednesday to file a Recount Request with Michigan’s Secretary of State. Stein has already filed for a recount in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and is determined to do the same in Michigan.
The recount efforts picked up steam after the director of the University of Michigan Center for Computer Security and Society, J. Alex Halderman brought up a concern that hackers may have infiltrated the electronic voting systems in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Trump won Wisconsin by 27,000 votes, Michigan by a little over 10,000 votes and Pennsylvania by 70,000. While the effort is being spearheaded by the Green Party, with support from a small group of lawyers and computer scientists are behind the effort, the Clinton campaign confirmed it’s involvement. The involvement of the Clinton campaign is an interesting turn of events, after the campaign blasted Trump time and time again in the lead up of the campaign, after Trump said he might contest the election results.
In Wisconsin, the recount is underway, with state officials racing against the clock in oder to complete the recount in time to have it’s electoral votes certified when the Electoral College meets Dec. 19. Proponents of the recount effort argue that Clinton received 7 percent fewer votes in counties that relied on electronic-voting machines compared with counties that used optical scanners/paper ballots. The group of concerned academics and lawyers claim that Clinton may have been denied as many as 30,000 votes (she lost Wisconsin by 27,000 votes).
In Pennsylvania, Stein officially requested for a recount
Monday. While Stein received less than 50,000 votes in the Keystone state, she contends that the recount is in order to build trust in the election system.
“We need to verify the vote in this and every election so that Americans of all parties can be sure we have a fair, secure and accurate voting system,” the former Green party candidate said in a statement.
In Michigan, Stein has retained former State Democratic party chairman Mark Brewer in the recount effort. A certified recount in Michigan is not automatically granted, according to the
Detroit Free Press. After Stein officially requests a recount, the Trump campaign has seven days to object to the recount. A recount would occur if the Board rejects the objection.
The Board of State Canvassers would then schedule a hearing (which could happen in mid-December), and then issue a ruling on the hearing within five days.
Stein’s efforts have led to a fundraising bonanza for the Green Party itself. The group has raised over
7 million dollars as a part of the recount efforts, but it has refused to pledge all of the funds for recount efforts. If nothing else, the fundraising spike and publicity will serve the third party well in the run up to 2020.
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