Following the US Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein's petition, Wisconsin is all set to begin a statewide recount of votes for President of the United States, state authorities said. The recount is expected to be started late next week.
Wisconsin Election Commission's Administrator Michael Haas said in a statement, "The Commission is preparing to move forward with a statewide recount of votes for President of the United States, as requested by these candidates."
Although the election commission in the state is still waiting to receive a cost estimate from county clerks to calculate the fee which Stein's campaign will have to pay before the start of the recount, but Haas anticipates the recount will start next week after the fee is paid.
According to Stein, she intends to mount a legal challenge to re-examine the vote totals in three states, including Wisconsin, which performed differently than polling suggested they would on Election Day. The other two states are Michigan and Pennsylvania where recount deadline dates are next week.
"The recount process is very detail-oriented, and this deadline will certainly challenge some counties to finish on time," Haas said in the statement.
Former FEC chairman and election lawyer Michael Toner said that, "Funds raised by federal candidates and political parties for recount purposes may be used to defray the cost of recounts and other legal proceedings but cannot be used for other campaign purposes."
"Whether recount funds could be used to pay for 'vote integrity' programs would need to be decided by the FEC, but I would doubt that the FEC would find that to be permissible," Toner said.
"After a divisive and painful presidential race, reported hacks into voter and party databases and individual email accounts are causing many American to wonder if our election results are reliable. These concerns need to be investigated before the 2016 presidential election is certified." Stein said in a Wednesday statement. "We deserve elections we can trust."
Also Read: Election tally, Trump wins Michigan by 10,704 votes
Nandini
