MADISON, WI (AP) – A local party official says Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein will request a recount in Wisconsin.
George Martin, a member of the Wisconsin Green Party’s coordinating council, says Stein’s campaign will file the request by the state’s 5 p.m. Friday deadline.
President-elect Donald Trump won Wisconsin and Pennsylvania by razor-thin margins and has a small lead in Michigan. All three states had been reliably Democratic in recent presidential elections.
Under Wisconsin law, Stein’s campaign must show a basis for the recount in that state and cover costs. Stein has said she’s concerned voting systems in the three states may have been hacked. Her campaign estimates a Wisconsin recount will cost $1.1 million.
As of Friday morning, Stein’s campaign had raised $4.8 million to seek recounts in all three states.
Wisconsin GOP Executive Director Mark Morgan issued a statement Friday calling Stein’s decision to seek a recount “absurd” and “nothing more than an expensive political stunt that undermines the election process.”
Stein’s campaign plans to file a request for a recount with the state Elections Commissions by the 5 p.m. deadline Friday. The campaign also plans to seek recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania.
Donald Trump narrowly won Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and has a small lead in Michigan. Green Party officials say the recounts are meant to determine whether hackers changed the outcome in the three states, not about whether Trump won or lost.
George Martin, a member of the Wisconsin Green Party’s coordinating council, says the GOP’s response was expected.