President-elect Donald Trump and Green Party candidate Jill Stein continued raising competing doubts about the election on Monday, with Trump's transition team voicing concerns about voter fraud without providing evidence and Stein taking legal action to trigger a recount in Pennsylvania, one of three states she has targeted for additional scrutiny.
Trump on Monday was also officially declared the winner in Michigan by a slim margin. Stein announced plans to force a recount there on Wednesday. In Wisconsin, where Stein asked for a recount last week, elections officials on Monday announced a timeline and procedure for it.
In a conference call with reporters, Jason Miller, communications director for the Trump transition team, read a statement from the president-elect stating his disapproval of Stein's recount efforts.
"The people have spoken and the election is over," Miller said. He later added: "It is important to point out that with the help of millions of voters across the country, the president-elect won 306 electoral votes on Election Day, the most of any Republican since 1988."
Miller also echoed Trump's Sunday accusations of widespread voter fraud, which have not been backed up by any evidence.
"I do think that's an issue of concern, the fact that there's a concern that so many voted who were not legally supposed to," Miller said. Asked for evidence, he cited studies about voter registrations conducted before the election but presented no specific proof of his claims that has emerged since the vote was conducted.
Stein, who finished well behind Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, announced that she filed a legal petition in Pennsylvania on behalf of 100 voters "to protect their right to substantively contest the election in Pennsylvania beyond the recounts being filed by voters at the precinct level."
"Americans deserve a voting system we can trust," Stein said in a statement. "After a presidential election tarnished by the use of outdated and unreliable machines and accusations of irregularities and hacks, people of all political persuasions are asking if our election results are reliable. We must recount the votes so we can build trust in our election system."
But Stein acknowledged in a Sunday video that it would be difficult to force a recount in Pennsylvania and would require her to "jump through some hoops."
Republicans raised doubts Monday that Stein's argument would prevail.
"Our General Counsel has reviewed the Election Contest and said it is totally and completely without any merit. It does not even allege any facts to support its wild claim that the 'discontinuity' of pre-election polls reported by the media showing that Hillary Clinton would win and the actual results could only have occurred through computer hacking originated by a foreign government," said Pennsylvania Republican Party Chairman Rob Gleason in a statement.
Stein said she has raised $ 6.5 million from more than 137,000 donors for the recount efforts. Because of the margins, the states are not absorbing the costs of recounting the votes.
In Michigan, the Board of State Canvassers certified Trump's win over Clinton by 10,704 votes out of about 4.8 million cast. Stein's team said it plans to demand a statewide hand-recount on Wednesday, in accordance with the 48-hour deadline to do so.
In Wisconsin, where Trump defeated Clinton by a percentage point, the bipartisan state Elections Commission announced plans to begin a recount on Thursday, provided that proper payment for the recount has been received by the state. It rejected the Stein campaign's request for a statewide hand recount, instead leaving it to each county to decide whether to use a machine or not. The Stein campaign said it was filing a legal challenge to trigger an all-hand recount.
The Clinton campaign said during the weekend that it would join the recount effort even though the team does not expect the outcome to be reversed.
The Washington Post
Tue Nov 29 2016
Stein (R), who finished well behind Trump (L) and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, announced she filed a legal petition in Pennsylvania on behalf of 100 voters. - AFP Photo
TPM mahu lebih ramai anak muda sabah diberi pendidikan TVET
Timbalan Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi mahu lebih ramai anak muda di Sabah diberi Pendidikan Teknikal dan Latihan Vokasional (TVET) bagi menampung permintaan tenaga mahir daripada pelabur asing atau domestik di negara ini.
Warga emas melecur kebakaran dua rumah di Kota Belud
Wanita warga emas melecur dalam kebakaran membabitkan dua rumah di Kampung Payas-Payas, Kota Belud, petang Sabtu.
Budak perempuan 7 tahun maut dua kenderaan bertembung
Seorang kanak-kanak perempuan berusia tujuh tahun maut dalam kemalangan jalan raya membabitkan dua kenderaan di Jalan Persiaran Indah Utama, Bukit Indah, Iskandar Puteri, Johor pada Sabtu.
Kerajaan dan Tabung Haji utamakan keselamatan jemaah haji
Mohd Na'im menjelaskan, kerajaan Arab Saudi juga berusaha memastikan urusan menunaikan rukan Islam kelima berjalan lancar.
Berita tempatan pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Berikut adalah berita yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang Sabtu, 20 April 2024.
10 Berita Pilihan - (20 April 2024)
Antara pelbagai berita dalam dan luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini
Tumpuan Ahad - 21 April 2024
Ikuti rangkuman berita utama yang menjadi tumpuan di Astro AWANI.
Lebih 300 tahanan asing dihantar pulang
Kerajaan Chile menghantar pulang 53 pendatang asing atas pelbagai kesalahan sebagai sebahagian daripada program pengusiran dengan penerbangan khas oleh Tentera Udara Chile.
Seorang tentera Iraq terkorban, lapan lagi cedera
Seorang tentera Iraq terkorban manakala 11 yang lain cedera selepas Pangkalan Tentera di tengah Baghdad menjadi sasaran bom pada Jumaat malam.
Tujuh lemas bot terbalik di Odisha, India
Tujuh mangsa bot terbalik di Sungai Mahanadi, Odisha ditemukan pasukan penyelamat pada hari kedua misi mencari dan menyelamat.
Lelaki bertindak bakar diri di luar mahkamah New York
Max Azzarello yang berasal dari St. Augustine, Florida, dilaporkan telah diselamatkan dan berada dalam keadaan kritikal.
7 juri dipilih dalam bicara kes wang sogok yang dihadapi Trump
Tujuh juri dipilih dalam perbicaraan kes wang sogok Donald Trump di New York, perbicaraan jenayah pertama terhadap bekas presiden Amerika Syarikat.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Perbicaraan skandal Donald Trump - bintang porno bermula
Donald Trump menjadi bekas Presiden Amerika Syarikat pertama yang menghadapi perbicaraan kes jenayah.
Bicara kes bayaran tutup mulut yang dihadapi Trump bermula dengan pemilihan juri
Donald Trump akan menjadi bekas presiden pertama dalam sejarah Amerika Syarikat (AS) yang dibicarakan atas tuduhan jenayah.
Trump gagal tangguh, perbicaraan tetap berlangsung 15 April ini
Ini merupakan kali pertama bekas Presiden AS dibicarakan melibatkan bayaran menutup mulut kepada seorang bintang filem lucah.
Biden menang pemilihan peringkat awal di Dakota Utara
Dalam pemilihan peringkat awal di Dakota Utara, terdapat 13 perwakilan ditawarkan dan kebanyakan pengundian dilakukan melalui undi pos.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Perbicaraan Donald Trump bermula 15 April
Ini merupakan kali pertama bekas Presiden AS dibicarakan melibatkan bayaran menutup mulut kepada seorang bintang filem lucah.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah antara yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.