2016 Election Votes Are Being Recounted

A voting sticker from the Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton election.

Hannah Potter

A voting sticker from the Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton election.

In several states around the US, recounting of votes from the 2016 election have taken place. Most of the recounts have been in hope that Hillary Clinton actually won certain swing states that could give her a win over Donald Trump. Many people are upset that these recounts are taking place, but others are hopeful that the recount will result in a different outcome. The public waits eagerly to see if these recounts will give the US a new president elect, or if it was a big waste of time.

Recounts of state votes had been requested in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, and Nevada. Jill Stein, green party candidate, called for a recount in the states Pennsylvanian, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Donald Trump only won by a very small amount, and some hope that when the recount is finished Hillary will be the winner of these states. In Nevada, the recount was initiated by independent presidential candidate, Roque De LA Fruente. Trump lost in this state to Hillary Clinton. In Florida, where Donald Trump won, a recount was called to action because people said that he only won because of hacking, messed up voting machines, and other issues. The only state in which there was a full recount was Wisconsin, and Donald Trump, the original winner, still came out on top. In all the other states no recounts were finished, so the original results for each state now stand and there will be no more recounts

The Electoral College will vote for president on December 19th 2016. Because there has been no change in result to the recount, the Electoral College members are supposed to vote in favor of whomever won the popular vote in their state. Most members have come to peace with whom they will vote for, but there have been a few members that refuse to vote for the candidate that won the popular vote in their state. They are called “faithless” electors. These people hoped that the recounts would change the election, and these protests are their reaction to Donald Trump still being the president-elect. Since there hasn’t been any official voting by the Electoral College, many people wonder what these protestors will end up doing when it comes down to casting their vote. Hillary Clinton’s win over Donald Trump in the overall popular vote by almost three million has led many electors to protest against who their state voted on. The electors are either voting for another Republican nominee or no one at all. There have been seven “faithless” electors around the country, and they are hoping to persuade many others to join the protest.

Hannah Potter
Students at Lafayette High School discuss the election recount.

Will the end result of the election be affected by all the efforts to get rid of the president elect Donald Trump? No one really knows. The efforts are a stretch, but there is still time, and the American public is not done trying to change the results.