WASHINGTON – An unprecedented presidential election recount will begin next week in Wisconsin —and two more states could be next.
Green Party Candidate Jill Stein filed a recount petition Friday in Wisconsin and said she has raised $5.2 million to pay for it and for similar re-tallies in Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Independent candidate Rocky Roque De La Fuente also requested a recount.
“The Commission is preparing to move forward with a statewide recount of votes for President of the United States, as requested by these candidates,” said Wisconsin Elections Commission Michael Haas said.
It will be the Badger State’s first-ever presidential recount.
Donald Trump became the first Republican to win the state since 1984.
Out of 2,975,313 votes cast, Trump beat Hillary Clinton by 22,177 – less than a percentage point. He tallied 1,404,000 votes compared to 1,381,823 votes for Clinton. Stein’s campaign is hoping to reach $7 million to cover attorney’s fees and recounts in the other two states.
“Raising money to pay for the first two recounts so quickly is a miraculous feat and a tribute to the power of grassroots organizing,” Stein posted on her campaign website.
She raised only about $3 million for her own presidential campaign through Oct. 19, according to federal election records.
Wisconsin law requires the state to perform a recount at a candidate’s request as long the candidate pays.
Wisconsin has 10 electoral votes; Pennsylvania has 20 and Michigan has 16.
Trump currently has 306 electoral votes. He would have to lose all three recounts to go under 270, the number required to become president.
In Pennsylvania, Trump won by 70,638 votes.
The election was even tighter in Michigan, where Trump is winning by just 10,704 votes.
He’s the first Republican to win the Great Lakes State since 1988.
Stein is seeking a hand recount – a long and tedious process. The recounts must be settled soon since the Electoral College electors meet Dec. 19 to cast their votes for president.
Wisconsin Republicans slammed the effort to uncut Trump’s presidency.
“Jill Stein’s decision to pursue a recount is absurd and nothing more than an expensive political stunt that undermines Wisconsin’s election process,” Mark Morgan, executive director of the Wisconsin Republican Party, said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Stein’s website says she “cannot guarantee” all the money raised will go to recounts, but surplus funds will go toward efforts to promote election integrity and voting reforms.