As we reported Friday, the Wisconsin Elections Commission has authorized a recount of its presidential vote totals from the November 8 election. Even if the results in America’s Dairyland are overturned, the result will not change the outcome, which is, “Trump Won the Election, While Hillary Won the Vote.”
As of this moment, former Secretary of State Clinton has 64,637,503 votes compared to 62,409,389 votes for President-elect Donald Trump. In other words, 2,228,116 more people voted for Clinton than did for Trump. She won the popular vote by 1.7%. Problem is, the people don’t get to choose their president. They vote for electors whose votes are officially counted on January 6. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win. Trump has 306.
There are millions of people in the United States and in a very nervous global community who are aghast at the thought that a person could win a vote by more than 2 million votes and be denied the victory. Measures are underway to at least attempt to change the numbers on the scoreboard.
THE AUDIT SCENARIO
Wisconsin
Green Party candidate Jill Stein raised enough money to fund Wisconsin’s recount.
Trump beat Clinton by 27,506 votes. (Not for nothing, but Stein received 31,016 votes which, if they had gone to Clinton, would have resulted in her winning the state.)
Even if the recount flips Wisconsin from Red to Blue, it won’t be enough for Hillary to win. Only 10 electoral votes will change hands, lowering Trump’s victory margin a bit, from 296-242.
Pennsylvania
Stein also seeks a recount in Pennsylvania, where Trump won by 68,814 votes. Barring some sort of miracle stash of uncounted votes, overturning Trump’s win in Pennsylvania seems unlikely. Still, and assuming the recount in Wisconsin went Clinton’s way, pull 20 electoral votes from the Trump column, add them to Clinton’s column and the total in 276-262.
Michigan
Trump took Michigan by a very slim margin of 10,704 votes. If that result is overturned, then (and continuing the assumption that the recount goes Clinton’s way in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania), then grab those 16 electoral votes from Trump, give them to Clinton, and she wins the election 278-260.
Clinton would need to run the table in all three of these states. If the vote is overturned in just Wisconsin and Michigan, but not Pennsylvania, Trump still has 280 Electoral Votes. Same situation, but she loses Wisconsin while overturning Pennsylvania and Michigan? Trump squeaks out an Electoral College win, 270-268. Hillary would need two faithless electors to start measuring the curtains in the Oval Office.
THE FAITHLESS ELECTOR SCENARIO
There are 21 states that do not, by law, require electors chosen on Election Day to vote for the candidate that won that particular state.
We’ve crossed out the states the Clinton won. Assuming none of the recounts goes Clinton’s way, she needs to find 38 faithless electors. With the exception of, maybe, Pennsylvania, which if these otherwise hardcore red states looks like it would have a ripe crop of faithless electors ready for harvesting?
We would be very happy to be wrong about this, but it seems neither the recount nor the faithless elector track holds much hope for Clinton. It is far more likely that either before or after his swearing-in, Trump does something so ethically and criminally boneheaded it causes him to be impeached.
Then we get Mike Pence, the man who ordered women in his state to hold funerals for the aborted fetuses and miscarriages.
He’s like Trump, but without the entertaining, mercurial nature.