Jill Stein, leader of the
Green Party of the United States (GPUS) and fourth place finisher in the 2016 election, has received
far more coverage by the media (both mainstream and "fake") since the
end of the 2016 presidential election campaign than she did during the campaign
itself, thanks to her requests for vote recounts in key swing states where the
vote was close but favoured Donald Trump. So far, she has requested the
following:
1.) Michigan - hand recount (cost of $973,250)
2.) Wisconsin - hand recount rejected (cost of
$3.5 million)
3.) Pennsylvania - November 21 deadline missed -
lawsuit filed
According to "The
Cook Political Report", each state had the following popular
vote counts:
Michigan - Trump
2,279,543 Clinton 2,268,839
Wisconsin - Trump
1,404,000 Clinton 1,381,823
Pennsylvania - Trump
2,954,407 Clinton 2,890,054
If the vote recount swung to
favour Clinton, she would pick up an additional 16 electoral college votes in
Michigan, 10 in Wisconsin and 20 in Pennsylvania for a total of 46
votes which would bring Donald Trump down to 260 votes and and Hillary Clinton
up to 272 votes, enough for a win.
So, what does the Green
Party have to say about the actions taken by their leader. Here is their sentiment on the recount issue
expressed in letter form:
"We write to
reaffirm our commitment to building a Green Party that has a radical analysis
of the society in which we live, and promotes bold solutions to transform our
society and address the root causes of those crises; a Green Party that is
independent of the two money-dominated parties.
There is a
deep social crisis in the US. This crisis manifests in countless ways. One of
its central manifestations is through the political system. People have
legitimate concerns about the electoral system, which is manipulated through
wholesale voter disenfranchisement, massive voter suppression and the racist
and undemocratic historical logic of the Electoral College. In all fifty
states, voters from poor and marginalized communities, especially Black people
and other communities of color, have their votes suppressed and are excluded
from participation through various practices.
The Green
Party cannot build the political power necessary for the transformative changes
we need by allying with two capitalist parties that serve the interests of the
wealthy. That is why it is imperative that the Green Party is independent of
those parties. We stay independent to give people an alternative to the
corruption of two money-based parties. Greens reject donations from
corporations and their political action committees to ensure we are accountable
to the people and so that the people’s agenda is not superseded by the
corporate agenda.
There are
significant electoral reforms needed to make elections more democratic and more
representative of the people. While we support electoral reforms, including how
the vote is counted, we do not support the current recount being undertaken by
Jill Stein.
The decision
to pursue a recount was not made in a democratic or a strategic way, nor did it
respect the established decision making processes and structures of the Green
Party of the United States (GPUS). The recount has created confusion
about the relationship between the Green and Democratic parties because the
states chosen for the recount are only states in which Hillary Clinton lost.
There were close races in other states such as New Hampshire and Minnesota
where Clinton won, but which were not part of the recount. And this recount
does not address the disenfranchisement of voters; it recounts votes that were
already counted rather than restoring the suffrage of voters who were prevented
from voting.
As a
candidate, Dr. Stein has the right to call for a recount. However, we urge the
GPUS to distance itself from any appearance of support for either Democrats or
Republicans. We are well aware of the undemocratic actions taken during the
primaries by the DNC and the Clinton campaign. Greens cannot be perceived to be
allied with such a party.
We remain
committed to the Green Party’s four pillars and ten key values, which have at
their foundation grassroots democracy. We urge the GPUS to prioritize its
efforts on building our party from the bottom up, working and organizing in
direct solidarity with our state and local parties and alongside and in defense
of the rights of those most affected by the injustices of a capitalist, white
supremacist and undemocratic system. This includes support for local efforts to
prevent the disenfranchisement of people of color via voter suppression or
because of felony convictions and to be more inclusive and participatory in our
decision-making processes and work." (my bold)
If you wish, you too can
sign the GPUS letter by clicking on this link.
The
letter is cosigned by a large number of Green Party insiders and leaders as
well as former Green Party candidates. It appears that the Green
Party is not terribly happy with the appearance that they may appear to be
favouring the Democrats over the Republicans, particularly given the shenanigans that took place
during the Democratic Party primaries which saw the defeat of the populist
candidate, Bernie Sanders.
Even though
Hillary Clinton's campaign team is, on one hand concerned that the recount may
cement Donald Trump's ascent to the Oval Office, on the other hand, one would
have to think that they are also backing even the remotest possibility that
their candidate could end up scooping the job from the current president-elect.
Unfortunately, we don't know if the Clinton team members are "putting their money where
their mouth is".
It certainly looks like the 2016 election isn't over until the fat lady sings, whoever that may be.
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