It seems that Jill Stein, the former presidential candidate for the Green Party, has filed for a vote recount in Wisconsin. She has also said it is her intent to do so in all other states where the deadline for such filing has not passed. The Clinton campaign has said they will support the effort.
What could possibly be Ms. Stein’s purpose? No one really thinks she will find enough votes to win Wisconsin. Well, I think there are two reasons for her filing. First, it is an effort to fill the Green Party war chest. Presumably, it will cost about $1 million to do a recount in Wisc. The effort has raised $5.9 million. Much of that from Clinton supporters. The second reason, I believe, is if the recount can close the vote spread between Clinton and Trump it could encourage electoral voters to switch from Trump to Clinton. Little wonder that Clinton is supporting the effort, even though she has conceded the election.
The other two swing states that went for Trump and pushed his electoral commitments well over the needed 270 was Pa. and Mich., with the latter being the closest contest. However, even the Clinton campaign manager has admitted that the spread of votes far exceeds any change ever found in a recount.
So what is the Clinton motive to support recounts? Why not? She has nothing to loose at this point and could gain some advantages. First, it further encourages those demonstrating on her behalf. Second, it could in theory cause some electoral vote switches, though unlikely to tip the scales. Third, a bit of vengeance against Trump, even though publicly she has said the country needs to give him a chance and have an open mind.
So, what is Trump’s position on this? He has said it is nonsense and political grandstanding. He has again stated that there were millions of illegal votes cast, particularly in California, Va., and N.H. He has offered no proof of that, though it seems to be common knowledge that there were rigged voting machines in several states, certainly in California, Ga., and Fl. California also had instances where blank absentee ballots were collected from nursing homes and filled out by Clinton supporters. Illegals were also found to be voting in California, notably in San Francisco, a “safe city”.
In short, I think it a certainty that there were some voting irregularities. Did that amount to millions, as Trump has alleged? Who knows, but my guess is that it didn’t, with the possible exception of California where Clinton won by something like 3 million votes.
Certainly, the one thing the filing for a recount does do is to continue the divide in this country. I say shame on Ms. Stein and those that are supporting her in this unnecessary deed. The election is over, let us move on.