Jill Stein, the US Green party’s presidential candidate, is prepared to request recounts of the election result in several key battleground states, her campaign said on Wednesday.

Stein launched an online fundraising page seeking donations toward a multimillion-dollar fund she said was needed to request reviews of the results in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Before midnight EST on Wednesday, the drive had already raised more than the $2 million necessary to file for a recount in Wisconsin, where the deadline to challenge is on Friday.

Stein said she was acting due to “compelling evidence of voting anomalies” and that data analysis had indicated “significant discrepancies in vote totals” that were released by state authorities.

“These concerns need to be investigated before the 2016 presidential election is certified,” she said in a statement.

The fundraising page said it expected to need around $6m-7m to challenge the results in all three states.

Stein’s move came amid growing calls for recounts or audits of the election results by groups of academics and activists concerned that foreign hackers may have interfered with election systems.

The concerned groups have been urging Hillary Clinton, the defeated Democratic nominee, to join their cause.

Donald Trump won unexpected and narrow victories against Clinton in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin earlier this month and may yet win Michigan, where a final result has not yet been declared.

Stein and her campaign made clear they were acting because they wanted to ensure the election results were authentic, rather than because they thought she had actually won any of the contests.

Several states allow any candidate who was on the ballot to request a recount.

She and those seeking recounts will need to move swiftly. This Friday is the deadline for requesting a recount in Wisconsin, where Trump’s winning margin stands at 0.7 per cent.

In Pennsylvania, where his margin is 1.2 per cent, the deadline falls on Monday. In Michigan, where the Trump lead is currently just 0.3 per cent, the deadline is Wednesday 30th November. </s> Politicians across the country are calling for ballot recounts in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in light of reports of potential voting machine manipulation.

And the seemingly overzealous prospect became tangible early Thursday as Green Party candidate Jill Stein announced that her campaign had raised the $2.5 million necessary to file for audits in the three Rust Belt states.

Stein’s camp launched the “#RECOUNT2016” fundraiser Wednesday, as Hillary Clinton’s popular vote lead against Donald Trump surpassed 2 million. Less than 24 hours later, the Green Party nominee’s fundraiser had smashed the monetary glass ceiling…[+] </s> U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith early Monday morning issued an order for Michigan election officials to begin counting ballots starting at noon.

The ruling follows a request from Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein after a razor-thin margin made the state the last to be called in the November election. President-elect Donald Trump ended up winning Michigan's 16 electoral votes by just 0.2 percentage points, or just under 10,000 votes out of over 5.5 million cast.

"It is inexcusable for Stein to put Michigan voters at risk of paying millions and potentially losing their voice in the Electoral College in the process," Schuette said in a statement.

It is inexcusable for Stein to put MI votes at risk of paying millions and potentially losing their voice in the Elec College. — A.G. Bill Schuette (@SchuetteOnDuty) December 2, 2016 Stein has spearheaded a recount effort in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- three battleground states where Donald Trump narrowly defeated Hillary Clinton. Trump supporters in Wisconsin have unsuccessfully tried to stop the recount in progress there. Stein's campaign, who withdrew a recount request in a Pennsylvania state court, this weekend said she would instead file the lawsuit seeking a statewide recount in federal court Monday morning. Stein has raised nearly $7 million to fund the recount efforts, following news that security experts alerted Clinton's campaign to the possibility of hacks in key counties in those states. Stein is expected to speak at a "Recount Rally" taking place outside the Trump Tower at 10 a.m. Monday morning. At the news conference, she plans to offer an update on the recounts as part of her effort to "fight tooth and nail to verify the accuracy, security, and fairness of the vote," according a Facebook event </s> Jill Stein Campaign Plans To Take Pennsylvania Recount Effort To Federal Court

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The Jill Stein campaign plans to bring her fight for a statewide ballot recount in Pennsylvania to federal court.

Jonathan Abady, lead counsel to Stein's recount efforts, said in a statement late Saturday that starting Monday, the campaign will "file for emergency relief in federal court, demanding a statewide recount on constitutional grounds."

"It has become clear that the barriers to verifying the vote in Pennsylvania are so pervasive and that the state court system is so ill-equipped to address this problem that we must seek federal court intervention," Abady said.

Just hours earlier, Lawrence M. Otter, a lawyer for the former Green Party presidential candidate, had withdrawn the lawsuit filed with the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania early Saturday evening.

"Petitioners are regular citizens of ordinary means," the filing states. "They cannot afford to post the $1,000,000 bond required by the Court."

Stein elaborated on Twitter, asking: "How odd is it that we must jump through bureaucratic hoops and raise millions of dollars so we can trust our election results?"

In addition, the Stein campaign will pursue the county-by-county recount effort in Pennsylvania, Stein's lawyer, Lawrence Otter, tells The Philadelphia Inquirer.

"That requires efforts in individual precincts â€” a process that requires three voters to petition their local election boards.

"In the region, a recount in Philadelphia is already underway in 75 of the city's more than 1,600 divisions. Judges in Bucks and Delaware counties will hear arguments this week on whether to grant recounts, Otter said."

Last month, Stein launched a fundraising campaign to pursue a recount in Pennsylvania, as well as in Michigan and Wisconsin â€” three states President-elect Donald Trump narrowly won en route to his Electoral College victory. That campaign â€” which sought to "ensure the integrity of our elections," according to her website â€” proved wildly successful, raking in nearly $7 million in donations to fund the former candidate's efforts.

Stein subsequently filed her request for a statewide recount in Pennsylvania on Monday, just days after she officially requested a recount in Wisconsin. In Michigan, where Trump was certified the winner only last week, the situation proved to be a bit more complicated: Stein requested a recount there â€” only to have her request tangled by an objection from the Trump campaign. After the state's Board of State Canvassers deadlocked on the issue Friday, the Detroit Free Press reports a hand recount in Michigan appears set to proceed next week.

Hillary Clinton's campaign reluctantly said it would participate in the proceedings, "to ensure our campaign is legally represented," according to campaign lawyer Marc Erik Elias.

At this time, there is no indication that Stein's campaign plans to drop its efforts in Wisconsin â€” where The Associated Press reports a recount is already underway â€” or in Michigan.

Stein plans to hold a rally and press conference Monday outside Trump Tower in New York City. </s> Recount requests filed by the Green Party's Jill Stein continue to gain momentum in key swing states as her campaign raises millions in a matter of days.

Stein said she plans to request a recount in Michigan over its 16 electoral votes as similar cases progress in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Donald Trump was the apparent winner in all three states, defeating Hillary Clinton by margins in the range of tens of thousands of votes.

While the effort has raised more than $6 million, Stein's campaign said in a statement the average donation was about $46.

The recounts would not change the election outcome for Stein, who finished fourth behind Libertarian Gary Johnson, but there is a very small chance they could flip the states for Clinton.

That result remains highly unlikely, as the Democrat would need to overcome Trump's winning margins in all three states to wrest the Electoral College majority from him. Clinton currently leads Trump by more than 2 million in the popular vote, according to an ongoing count by the Cook Political Report.

Clinton's campaign has said it will participate in the recount in Wisconsin while Trump claims the process is a "scam."

In a Monday statement, Stein's campaign said, "The recount funds are being held in a dedicated account, separate from Stein's Presidential campaign treasury, and will be used to pay for all costs associated with the recounts, including required payments to states, lawyers, volunteer recruitment and other technical assistance."

Below is the latest on the recounts: </s> An election recount will take place soon in Wisconsin, after former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein filed a petition Friday with the state's Elections Commission, the first of three states where she has promised to contest the election result.

The move from Stein, who raised millions since her Wednesday announcement that she would seek recounts of Donald Trump's apparent election victories in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, came just 90 minutes before Wisconsin's 5 p.m. Friday deadline to file a petition. Now it will keep some hope alive for many Hillary Clinton supporters for another few weeks while Wisconsin recounts ballots before a Dec. 13 deadline.

Trump scored upset victories in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and seems on the path to declare a victory in Michigan as well, although the result of the election in that state will not be certified officially until Monday. Had Clinton won those three states, previously seen as part of the Democrats' "firewall," she would have secured enough votes in the Electoral College to win the election.

Stein announced her intention to file the petition following reports that a group of data experts and election lawyers were urging Clinton to demand a recount in those three states, on suspicion that a cyberattack could have manipulated the results of the election in those states. While the group had no specific proof of hacking, they noted irregularities suggesting Clinton routinely did more poorly in Wisconsin counties that used voting machines, as opposed to those that relied on paper ballots.

Trump secured a total of 1,404,000 votes in Wisconsin, according to the commission; Clinton had 1,381,823. Stein secured 31,006 votes.

To be on the safe side, the group of experts urged a recount - but it was Stein's campaign that ended up demanding one, soliciting at first $2.5 million and later up to $7 million to fund the recounts. As of Friday evening, Stein's campaign reported taking in over $5.25 million in recount-related donations - the most by a third-party candidate in history.

Wisconsin has the first deadline of the three states in question. If Stein's campaign wishes to file recount petitions in the other states as promised, she must do so by Monday to meet Pennsylvania's deadline, and Wednesday to meet Michigan's deadline.

In the end, Stein was not the only presidential candidate to demand a recount. Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente, the Reform Party nominee who got 1,514 Wisconsin votes, also filed a recount petition, according to the state's Elections Commission.

In a statement, Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Michael Haas guessed that the cost and complexity of the recount would be in excess of the state's last recount in 2011, which carried a price tag of more than $520,000. In that recount over a state Supreme Court seat, the commission had to recount 1.5 million votes - about half the 2.975 million ballot votes that were cast during the 2016 presidential election.

Stein put a note on her Facebook page on Friday, asking supporters "to consider volunteering to help in the recount process."

The county boards of canvassers will conduct the recount, according to the commission's statement, and will have the authority "to decide which ballots should and should not be counted," Haas said.

If the candidates disagree with the results of the Wisconsin recount, they will have five business days to contest the outcome in court. </s> Former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein dropped a request for a state court vote recount in Pennsylvania because petitioners could not afford the $1mn bond required (AFP Photo/JUSTIN SULLIVAN)

Washington (AFP) - Former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein switched tactics in her campaign to force a recount in Pennsylvania, one of three battleground states won by Donald Trump where she has challenged the results.

The party dropped a bid to pursue the recount in a state court, citing difficulties raising a million dollar bond demanded by the tribunal. It said it would instead press on in federal court and file suit Monday.

That was also Stein's deadline for raising the bond money.

"Make no mistake -— the Stein campaign will continue to fight for a statewide recount in Pennsylvania," attorney Jonathan Abady said in a statement.

"Over the past several days, it has become clear that the barriers to verifying the vote in Pennsylvania are so pervasive and that the state court system is so ill-equipped to address this problem that we must seek federal court intervention," Abady said.

"Petitioners are regular citizens of ordinary means. They cannot afford to post the $1,000,000 bond required by the court," read a filing submitted earlier in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, announcing the state court drive was being dropped.

Stein plans to hold a rally on Monday across the street from Trump Tower in New York "vowing to fight tooth and nail to verify the accuracy, security and fairness of the vote," a statement read.

On Twitter, she added: "How odd is it that we must jump through bureaucratic hoops and raise millions of dollars so we can trust our election results? #Recount2016.

"#Recount2016 is so expensive because of elected leaders who have refused to invest in a 21st-century voting system," she said.

Stein's fundraising efforts for recounts in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin have brought in nearly $7 million so far, according to her website. In all three traditionally Democratic-leaning states, Trump only narrowly defeated Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

Her recount request in Pennsylvania was complicated by opposition from Trump. Michigan's attorney general filed suit to halt Stein's recounts efforts in that state. And in Wisconsin, Trump supporters tried to stop the recount but it is underway.

Stein's campaign has cited unspecified "anomalies" as grounds to mount a challenge in all three Rust Belt states.

The move came amid stepped-up calls from some of the president-elect's leftist opponents to challenge the results of the November 8 election, which followed a bitter campaign that included persistent charges of Russian hacking and allegations by Trump of fraud.

Although experts say there is virtually no chance of overturning the result, the demands could reignite debate over the legitimacy of Trump's election, already fueled by Clinton's lead in the popular vote which now stands at around 2.5 million.

Trump has stated without offering evidence that "millions" of people voted illegally and that were it not for this he would have won the popular vote as well. </s> An election recount will take place soon in Wisconsin, after former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein filed a petition Friday with the state’s Elections Commission, the first of three states where she has promised to contest the election result.

The move from Stein, who raised millions since her Wednesday announcement that she would seek recounts of Donald Trump’s apparent election victories in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, came just 90 minutes before Wisconsin’s 5 p.m. Friday deadline to file a petition. Now it will keep some hope alive for many Hillary Clinton supporters for another few weeks while Wisconsin recounts ballots before a Dec. 13 deadline.

Trump scored upset victories in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and seems on the path to declare a victory in Michigan as well, although the result of the election in that state will not be certified officially until Monday. Had Clinton won those three states, previously seen as part of the Democrats’ “firewall,” she would have secured enough votes in the Electoral College to win the election.

Stein announced her intention to file the petition following reports that a group of data experts and election lawyers were urging Clinton to demand a recount in those three states, on suspicion that a cyberattack could have manipulated the results of the election in those states. While the group had no specific proof of hacking, they noted irregularities suggesting Clinton routinely did more poorly in Wisconsin counties that used voting machines, as opposed to those that relied on paper ballots.

Trump secured a total of 1,404,000 votes in Wisconsin, according to the commission; Clinton had 1,381,823. Stein secured 31,006 votes.

To be on the safe side, the group of experts urged a recount – but it was Stein’s campaign that ended up demanding one, soliciting at first $2.5 million and later up to $7 million to fund the recounts. As of Friday evening, Stein’s campaign reported taking in over $5.25 million in recount-related donations – the most by a third-party candidate in history.

Wisconsin has the first deadline of the three states in question. If Stein’s campaign wishes to file recount petitions in the other states as promised, she must do so by Monday to meet Pennsylvania’s deadline, and Wednesday to meet Michigan’s deadline.

In the end, Stein was not the only presidential candidate to demand a recount. Roque “Rocky” De La Fuente, the Reform Party nominee who got 1,514 Wisconsin votes, also filed a recount petition, according to the state’s Elections Commission.

In a statement, Wisconsin Elections Commission Administrator Michael Haas guessed that the cost and complexity of the recount would be in excess of the state’s last recount in 2011, which carried a price tag of more than $520,000. In that recount over a state Supreme Court seat, the commission had to recount 1.5 million votes – about half the 2.975 million ballot votes that were cast during the 2016 presidential election.

Stein put a note on her Facebook page on Friday, asking supporters “to consider volunteering to help in the recount process.”

The county boards of canvassers will conduct the recount, according to the commission’s statement, and will have the authority “to decide which ballots should and should not be counted,” Haas said.

If the candidates disagree with the results of the Wisconsin recount, they will have five business days to contest the outcome in court. </s> “The Commission is preparing to move forward with a statewide recount of votes for President of the United States, as requested by these candidates,” Commission Administrator Michael Haas said in a statement on the agency's website.

The move follows comments by Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein earlier on Friday that her push for election recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania was aimed at assessing the integrity of the U.S. voting system, not at undermining Republican Donald Trump's White House victory.

While Stein's effort this week may have spurred hope among disappointed supporters of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, the chances of such recounts - if they take place - overturning the overall result from the Nov. 8 election are extremely slim, given Trump's margins of victory in the three states.

Since launching the recount campaign on Wednesday, Stein has raised more than $5 million. The Green Party said it wants to raise $7 million for the recounts, including the cost of legal fees.

The Green Party has said that despite the millions it has raised to fund the recounts, it could not guarantee any would occur and that if its requests were denied or there were surplus funds, it would use the money to push for voting system reforms.

Stein, who won just 1 percent of the national vote herself, told CNN that while there was no evidence of tampering or other voting errors in the election, only a full review in those states would give Americans confidence in the results.

"This was a hack-riddled election," she said, pointing to hacking before the vote of political organizations and individual email accounts, as well as recent media reports citing concerns by computer security experts.

The deadline to request the Wisconsin recount was Friday afternoon, while for Pennsylvania the deadline is Monday and for Michigan Wednesday.

Wisconsin's Haas said that with a federal deadline of Dec. 13 to complete the recounts, county boards of canvassers might have to work evenings and weekends.

The other petitioner for a recount in the state was third-party candidate Rocky Roque De La Fuente, the commission statement said.

Although Trump won narrowly in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, the margins make it highly unlikely that any recounts would end up giving Clinton a win in all three states, which would be needed for the overall presidential election result to change. Trump beat Clinton in Pennsylvania by 70,010 votes, in Michigan by 10,704 votes and in Wisconsin by 27,257 votes.

The presidential race is decided by the Electoral College, or a tally of wins from the state-by-state contests, rather than by the popular national vote. The Electoral College results are expected to be finalized when electors meet on Dec. 19.

Trump surpassed the 270 electoral votes needed to win, although once the final tallies of votes are in, Clinton will have won the national popular vote by more than 2 million votes.

Asked if she was trying to upset Trump, Stein told CNN "Absolutely not," adding that she also did not back Clinton.

A representative for Trump's transition team on Thursday had no comment on Stein's effort. In a Twitter post on Thursday, senior Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway cited a New York Times article and mocked Clinton supporters who "can't accept the election results."

Clinton has not commented on Stein's effort, and a representative for her did not reply to a request for comment.
The Clinton campaign announces it will participate in efforts to push for recounts by Jill Stein's campaign in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.