Over Thanksgiving weekend, Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein raised more money and got more news coverage for an election recount than she did for her own campaign.
The campaign is approaching $7 million (Stein raised $3.5 million for her own presidential bid) in donations to fuel its file for a statewide recount in Wisconsin, a partial recount in Pennsylvania and another recount in Michigan. The Michigan State Board of Canvassers voted Dec. 2 to move forward with the recount despite a formal objection from Donald Trump representatives.
The campaign is approaching $7 million (Stein raised $3.5 million for her own presidential bid) in donations to fuel its file for a statewide recount in Wisconsin, a partial recount in Pennsylvania and another recount in Michigan. The Michigan State Board of Canvassers voted Dec. 2 to move forward with the recount despite a formal objection from Donald Trump representatives.
A Milwaukee County sheriff guards a room where ballots are stacked up as a statewide presidential election recount begins Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016, in Milwaukee. The first candidate-driven statewide recount of a presidential election in 16 years began Thursday in Wisconsin, a state that Donald Trump won by less than a percentage point over Hillary Clinton after polls long predicted a Clinton victory. (AP Photo/Morry Gash)
Stein's campaign is acting on the request of a team of computer scientists and election lawyers that Hillary Clinton contest the election results. The team found that Clinton received 7 percent fewer votes in counties that relied on electronic voting machines, which they say is enough to suggest possible manipulation. Stein took the reins while Clinton's campaign begrudgingly agreed to go along with the effort, acknowledging that overturning all three states and swinging the election to Clinton was near impossible.
Some local elections saw much closer calls this year.
In the Utah Legislature, Republican incumbent Rep. LaVar Christensen crept past Democratic challenger Suzanne Harrison's early lead to keep his seat by just 3 votes. The Democrats filed for a recount Nov. 28, and the new results should come forward Dec. 5.
In an even more quirky scenario, a West Jordan City Council seat was decided with a coin toss when council members voted in a deadlock between Alan Anderson and David Pack. Anderson won by luck.
Do recounts ever change the results? Absolutely.
In a 1974 New Hampshire Senate race, Republican Louis Wyman and Democrat John Durkin had to conduct a second election the race was so close, but it didn't end there. Wyman won by 355 votes, then a recount gave the race to Durkin by 10 votes, then another recount tossed it back to Wyman by two votes. Durkin called for a Senate review, but the chamber couldn't get to the bottom of it. For one last time, Wyman and Durkin ran against each other, this time with a record number of New Hampshire eyes on them. Durkin won the seat with a 27,000-vote lead.
And perhaps the most high-profile election recount: the 2000 presidential election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. Dispute over Florida "butterfly ballots" where the paper punch didn't detach from the ballot kept the manual recount efforts going for 36 days and delayed the Bush transition by six weeks before the Supreme Court finally ruled to stop recounting and Gore conceded.
Election recounts can come with a heavy taxpayer price tag, but for good reason — they've swung elections before.
Some local elections saw much closer calls this year.
In the Utah Legislature, Republican incumbent Rep. LaVar Christensen crept past Democratic challenger Suzanne Harrison's early lead to keep his seat by just 3 votes. The Democrats filed for a recount Nov. 28, and the new results should come forward Dec. 5.
In an even more quirky scenario, a West Jordan City Council seat was decided with a coin toss when council members voted in a deadlock between Alan Anderson and David Pack. Anderson won by luck.
Do recounts ever change the results? Absolutely.
In a 1974 New Hampshire Senate race, Republican Louis Wyman and Democrat John Durkin had to conduct a second election the race was so close, but it didn't end there. Wyman won by 355 votes, then a recount gave the race to Durkin by 10 votes, then another recount tossed it back to Wyman by two votes. Durkin called for a Senate review, but the chamber couldn't get to the bottom of it. For one last time, Wyman and Durkin ran against each other, this time with a record number of New Hampshire eyes on them. Durkin won the seat with a 27,000-vote lead.
And perhaps the most high-profile election recount: the 2000 presidential election between Al Gore and George W. Bush. Dispute over Florida "butterfly ballots" where the paper punch didn't detach from the ballot kept the manual recount efforts going for 36 days and delayed the Bush transition by six weeks before the Supreme Court finally ruled to stop recounting and Gore conceded.
Election recounts can come with a heavy taxpayer price tag, but for good reason — they've swung elections before.