2016 United States presidential election recounts

2016 U.S. presidential election
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Following Republican nominee Donald Trump's presumed electoral college victory in the United States presidential election of 2016, a group of computer scientists, cyber security experts, and election monitors raised concerns about the integrity of the election results. They urged the campaign staff of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, who had conceded the campaign on November 9,^[1] to petition for a recount in three key states: Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.^[2] When the Clinton campaign declined to file for recounts, Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein agreed to spearhead the recount effort on November 23, on the grounds that unspecified "anomalies" may have affected the election's outcome. The Clinton team subsequently pledged to support the recount efforts "in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides."^[3][4][5] President-elect Trump and his supporters filed legal motions in all three states to prevent the recounts.^[6] Two other states were the subject of recount bids that were separate from Stein's efforts in the Rust Belt states: American Delta Party/Reform Party presidential candidate Rocky De La Fuente filed for a partial recount in Nevada on November 30,^[7] and three Florida citizens filed for a complete hand recount in their state on December 6.^[8]

In accordance with the Electoral Count Act, all states must certify and submit their final election results to the electoral college six days before the college meets. Under this "safe harbor" provision, any recount efforts for the 2016 election had to be completed before the deadline of December 13, 2016.^[9] The recount in Nevada went forward and were completed on schedule, resulting in only minor changes to vote tallies. Wisconsin permitted individual counties to decide whether to provide paper ballots for recount or merely to rerun the same computer totals.^[10][11] A recount in Michigan was allowed to proceed for three days before being halted by court order,^[12] and a federal lawsuit to compel a recount in Pennsylvania was dismissed.^[13] While the partial Michigan recount did unearth some instances of improper ballot handling and possible voter fraud,^[14] no indications of widespread hacking were discovered, and the overall outcome of the election remained unchanged, despite the evidence that the voting machines were old and faulty, possibly counting as "blank" ballots many that contained visually clear indications of presidential choice.^{[15][16][10][11]}