Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein has received $2.5 million in donations to push for election recounts in three swing states — Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Stein, who launched her crowdfunding campaign on Wednesday morning, hit her first requested total inside of 24 hours, securing more than $2 million by midnight ET, and reaching $2.5 million by 3AM ET.
Upon reaching the original goal of $2.5 million — the total at which Stein had indicated the Green Party would file for recounts in all three states — the campaign’s requested total increased to $4.5 million. The Green Party also specified that the “miraculous” $2.5 million raised so far would only be used for a proposed recount in Wisconsin, with another two recounts still needing funding.
Jill Stein’s original goal
During the initial funding push, Stein suggested that the $2.5 million target would only cover the filing fees for the recounts. If they did go ahead, attorney fees would add another $1 million. That hypothetical figure was increased as the campaign started to rack up donations. Notably the legal fees were bumped to $2 to $3 million bringing the total cost of the procedure to some $6 to $7 million.
As @DrJillStein’s #Recount2016 campaign nears $2 mil, she changes total goal to $6 or $7 mil. pic.twitter.com/L4oawAoqOO
— David Fishman (@davidpkfishman) November 24, 2016
Stein’s proposed recounts have no hope of propelling her or the Green Party into a position of power in the United States; instead, they could assist the Democratic Party, who lost out to the Republicans in the three states in question. If Hillary Clinton were to win Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin in a recount, it would put her ahead of Donald Trump in the electoral college, scoring 278 votes to his revised 260 — more in line with Clinton’s lead of more than 2 million in the popular vote.