Wednesday I wrote about a recount effort being launched by Green Party candidate Jill Stein. Stein was calling for recounts in three swing states—Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin—for the sake of electoral integrity. With the deadline to request a recount in those states fast approaching, Stein was looking for money to move the process forward. However, as money has flooded in the page describing how much money is needed keeps being changed. Initially the plan was to try and raise 2.5 million:
Jesus. People are being scammed. Obama / Hillary / DNC need to speak up. pic.twitter.com/ZmeXr5PrIT
— Jimmy (@JimmyPrinceton) November 24, 2016
As the amount Stein raised quickly surpassed her initial goal, the goal tripled in two days:
Aaand Jill Stein has increased her fundraising goal again. Now $7,000,000. pic.twitter.com/wr0JQYVzai
— Jimmy (@JimmyPrinceton) November 25, 2016
So why does Stein need nearly three times what she originally was hoping to raise? According to her fundraising page, the price of lawyers has doubled or tripled since Wednesday:
As @DrJillStein's #Recount2016 campaign nears $2 mil, she changes total goal to $6 or $7 mil. pic.twitter.com/L4oawAoqOO
— David Fishman (@davidpkfishman) November 24, 2016
The Stein/Green party also make clear that whether or not any recounts actually happen, the money will not be returned. Instead, as LawNewz reports, Stein is promising the excess will be used for “election integrity efforts“:
All money raised goes toward recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. We hope to do recounts in all three states. If we only raise sufficient money for two, we will demand recounts in two states. If we only raise enough money for one, we will demand a recount in one state.
We cannot guarantee a recount will happen in any of these states we are targeting. We can only pledge we will demand recounts in those states.
If we raise more than what’s needed, the surplus will also go toward election integrity efforts and to promote voting system reform.
At this point it’s getting hard to tell how a fundraising scam would look any different:
Not saying this Jill Stein thing is a scam, but if it were a scam, it would probably look a lot like this. https://t.co/pg4eAuFQ4h
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 25, 2016
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