It’s the Thought that Recounts

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It went under the radar up until a few days ago, when funding passed $5 million, and Jill Stein’s push to recount votes in Wisconsin became the newest controversy in the 2016 election. Just when the numerous scandals of the past few months seemed to be over, both Stein, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump have once again jumped back into the drama.

The Green Party aimed to raise enough money and start an investigation that questioned the effectiveness of Wisconsin’s, voting system. They were mainly concerned with voter databases being possibly hacked. The party was successful in getting it started, and Michael Haas, the state’s Election Board Administrator, announced that the recount will begin over the next few weeks.

Clinton’s campaign announced Saturday that like the Green Party, they will also push for a recount in several more states.

In response, president-elect Donald Trump complained that the recount was a scam. He called Stein and the Democratic party “sore losers” – despite the fact that only a few short months ago, he declared that he would not accept the results if he didn’t win. A big part of his campaign was his promise to bring down a “rigged system”, but now, he doesn’t want others to look into the possibility that there could have been some discrepancies.

After his own victory, Trump cried voter fraud. He claimed that if not for those who voted illegally, he would have won the popular vote. He had no evidence to back this up. If it was true, though, shouldn’t he also be in support of a recount to eliminate the ones that had been cast illegally? It seems odd that a man who so viciously attacked the system for being unfair would suddenly change his mind. If his claims are true, then this recount would only reassure his win, yet he is very obviously against it.

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The possible consequences of this recount aren’t clear. It’s unlikely that it will shift the election winner from Trump to Clinton, and it’s not even the most dramatic twist seen throughout the election. Even if it doesn’t change the results, the investigation may uncover some systematic issues in our voting process.