Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein insisted Monday that she would be calling for recounts in three key states won by President-elect Trump even if former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had won them instead of Trump.
Stein told reporters at a press conference outside Trump Tower in New York that she would “absolutely” be pushing for recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania regardless of the outcome. At the event, Stein praised the decision by a federal judge in Michigan who ruled in favor of the recount, which will begin on Monday at noon.
“Throughout the election, I was asked if there were questions about the vote, and a recount was indicated, would I step up to the plate and I always said yes, I will do that regardless of who the victor is if there are questions about the process,” she said.
Stein maintained that they are challenging the results of the campaign because of “indicators” in each state of possible problems with the count — notably the use of voting machines, blank ballots in Detroit, and thin margins.
“These are some of the indicators that people look for when they are looking — when they’re raising the question ‘was there compromise in this election?’ or ‘was there machine error,'” Stein said. “Those are the questions that are asked.”
“It’s not a question of who won,” Stein argued. “So we went into these states because they met those criteria, because their deadlines had not yet closed, and because they actually have laws that permit a recount, unlike Florida which would have made it very difficult.”
