Three weeks after Election Day, the 2016 presidential election has officially been certified in Michigan by the state Board of Canvassers, with President-elect Donald Trump winning the state popular vote — along with all 16 electoral votes — by a 10,704-vote margin over Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
In total, Trump won 2,279,543 votes to Clinton’s 2,268,839, according to the Michigan Secretary of State. Candidates now have 48 hours to file for a recount.
Jill Stein, former Green Party presidential candidate, announced Monday that she has filed petitions to recount the vote in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, charging that there might have been hacks or irregularities in the way votes were counted.
“After a presidential election tarnished by the use of outdated and unreliable machines and accusations of irregularities and hacks, people of all political persuasions are asking if our election results are reliable,” Stein wrote in her statement. “We must recount the votes so we can build trust in our election system.”
In a statement, Michigan Secretary of State said they are confident the ballots were counted correctly the first time through.
“The detailed county canvassing process ensures that Michigan residents can have full confidence in the accuracy and integrity of the results,” the site reads.
Gov. Rick Snyder said there are no problems with the ballots in Michigan in a tweet Monday evening, and added that Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence need to now focus solely on governing.
Michigan Elections Director Christopher Thomas said at the Board of State Canvassers meeting Monday in Lansing he does not believe there will be any fraud in Michigan and added that he thought it was odd for a candidate who got 1 percent of the vote to want a recount. However, he said Michigan will proceed in recounting ballots in the 19 largest counties starting this Friday or Saturday if a recount is requested. Stein’s attorney Mark Brewer said more than 80,000 of the votes are “under votes” with no recorded vote for president, which he said must be recounted by hand to ensure no presidential votes were missed.
Wisconsin election officials said Monday they would conduct a fair recount. Local officials will coordinate the recount, according to CNN, with the actual recount starting at the end of the week if a recount is requested. The recount tally must be filed by Dec. 13, according to federal law. Elections Commission Chairman Mark Thomsen told CNN he favors the recount, but assured he thought the process was done legally the first time.
“If nothing else, this is going to give us a very good audit, it’s going to reassure Wisconsin voters that we have a fair system, that we’re not counting illegal votes,” Thomsen said in an interview with CNN.
As it currently stands, Trump has secured 306 electoral votes, ending up with 36 more than needed to clinch the nomination. Hillary Clinton won 232 electoral votes, falling 38 short of 270. Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania all would need to be filed for the outcome to change.