UPDATED: 11/28/16 11:50AM
Wisconsin officials say they’re moving forward with the first presidential recount in state history. It’s a result of Green Party nominee Jill Stein’s fight to revisit vote totals in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. She’s raised millions of dollars to fund the recounts. Hillary Clinton is also joining the effort. President-elect Donald Trump calls the whole thing “a scam.” He says “The people have spoken and the election is over.”
Meantime, a Republican senator says he doesn’t know what Donald Trump was talking about, when Trump tweeted a claim that there were “millions of people who voted illegally” in the presidential election. Trump, who is behind by nearly two million ballots in the popular vote despite winning the electoral vote, says he would have “won the popular vote” if it hadn’t been for the millions he says voted illegally. There’s been no evidence of widespread tampering. And Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma tells CNN that he hasn’t seen “any voter irregularity in the millions.”
Trump’s outrage puts him in the unprecedented position of protesting against an election the he won, while pushing back on efforts for a recount. (AP)
Original post: 11/23/16
Ballots continue to be counted from the November 8th election, and Hillary Clinton’s popular vote count continues to grow–now at over 2-million votes over Donald Trump. The margin, which is expected to grow, already give Clinton the largest popular vote win for any candidate who did not win the Electoral College; and, has led to new calls for an audit of election results
That, as what has been called “persuasive evidence” of hacking, has been uncovered by a group of computer scientists and election lawyers, who have urged Clinton herself to ask for a recount in at least 3 battleground states won by Donald Trump — Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan.
According to New York Magazine, the group alerted Clinton camp officials in a conference call last Thursday:
“The academics presented findings showing that in Wisconsin, Clinton received 7 percent fewer votes in counties that relied on electronic-voting machines compared with counties that used optical scanners and paper ballots. Based on this statistical analysis, Clinton may have been denied as many as 30,000 votes; she lost Wisconsin by 27,000.”
AURN’s Kim Lampkins gets reaction from national security expert Daniel Benjamin …
Meantime, there are reportedly mixed feelings as to whether or not Clinton should pursue a recount, given a the President Obama’s desire for a ‘smooth transition of power.”
That said, Clinton supporters are urging action. This from the Facebook page of sister of Huma Abedin, Clinton’s longtime aide, who urged Clinton supporters to demand a Justice Department audit of the 2016 vote, by calling 202-353-1555.
According to reports, the deadline to ask for a recount in Wisconsin is today (Friday 11/23). The deadline is Monday in Pennsylvania, and next Wednesday in Michigan.
Source: AURN