Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Saturday decided to back her office members and appeal for recounting of Electoral votes. With the deadline pushing through, she has decided to apply for the three main swing states- Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, that gave President-elect Donald Trump, The White House. Firstly, she is right to support the recount, as new evidence of tampering has surfaced. On the night of November 8, 2016, Hillary Clinton yielded far too soon. Partly she conceded on President Obama’s advice as it appeared that she had little chance in the three swing states and in part because of an unimpeachable process that American presidential office transition must be a quick and orderly process.
There has been a doubt over the number of electoral votes of Wisconsin state, as for Michigan and Pennsylvania there are only a handful of select states that still follow the ballot system that could be rigged. This vote recount is a valid process as Hillary Clinton is leading by 2 million popular votes. These elections seem to be a repeat of 2000 as it replicates Al Gore’s popular vote leading but George W. Bush’s electoral vote win. But things have changed since 2000, in this 2016 election, there are means through which recounting can be backed in case there is proof of tampering. Also, the Pre-election vote projection showed votes heavily inclined towards Democrats than Republicans. To make the understanding easier more Democrats voted than Republicans in the electoral college votes projecting Mrs.Clinton as the clear winner. This changed on the night of November 8, leading to speculations by Clinton’s office that there has been tampering. Now with evidence surfacing, Hillary has decided to back the recounting decision.
The Wisconsin state officials said Friday that they have decided to move forward with the Presidential recount, a first time in the State’s history. Mrs. Clinton decided to join the effort Saturday, her campaign attorney Marc Elias said, “We intend to participate in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides.”
Now, what exactly is Electoral Voting system that led Trump to win?
There will always be a difference between qualified and unqualified voters. To aid the election of the president by qualified voters the Electoral college plays the main role. The Electoral College mainly consists of 538 electors. In this 538 votes, a majority of 270 votes is required for winning. There are 50 states in the U.S.A. And the number of electors in each state equals to the number of state representatives that their state has in the House and the Senate. One elector for one representative and one each electoral members for the two Senators.
The Electors are chosen by political parties sometime before the general election. They choose a slate of potential electors and campaign in a suitable manner. On Election day, voters from each state choose their President by casting the ballots. This is where the tampering part can creep in- due to faulty voting machines or by electronic hacking. Some states have more Electoral College votes than others, so the states with a majority electoral voters can really make a difference in the final tally. To put it in plain words, The Parties choose Electors before the general elections and the Electors chose their President on the Election day.
