Former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein‘s crowdfunding effort to challenge the voting results in three key swing states in the 2016 election just surpassed $5 million.
Stein launched the campaign two days ago to fund voting recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania with an initial goal of $2.5 million. A group of computer scientists and election-law experts told Hillary Clinton to demand a recount in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania since they say results in those states might have been compromised in favor of President-elect Donald Trump.
As Stein explained on her website, “These recounts are part of an election integrity movement to attempt to shine a light on just how untrustworthy the U.S. election system is.”
Stein quickly eclipsed her original goal and set a new target for $7 million. The discrepancy between the two goals, the campaign noted, is to account for potential lawyer fees. Here’s how the campaign site breaks down the funds.
According to Stein’s website, the recounts in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania have been funded. “Next up,” says the website, “is Michigan.”
It’s worth noting that these funds don’t guarantee a recount will happen. As the site notes, “We can only pledge we will demand recounts in those states.”
Stein still hopes to raise an additional $2 million. Her campaign site notes that any additional funds raised will “go toward election integrity efforts and to promote voting system reform.”