Voting Rights Advocates Call On Hillary Clinton To Challenge Election Results

While many Democrats worried that Donald Trump would challenge the results of the election if he lost, a group of activists is encouraging Clinton to do just that. The group, which includes John Bonifaz and J. Alex Halderman, a voting-rights attorney and the director of the University of Michigan Center for Computer Security and Society, think that the results in key states Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania contain enough irregularities to warrant investigation. They only have circumstantial evidence to suggest that unprecedented voter fraud has occurred. New York magazine's Daily Intelligencer has a good breakdown of what their exact evidence and request are. "Last Thursday, the activists held a conference call with Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta and campaign general counsel Marc Elias to make their case, according to a source briefed on the call," New York writes. "The academics presented findings showing that in Wisconsin, Clinton received 7 percent fewer votes in counties that relied on electronic-voting machines compared with counties that used optical scanners and paper ballots. Based on this statistical analysis, Clinton may have been denied as many as 30,000 votes; she lost Wisconsin by 27,000. While it’s important to note the group has not found proof of hacking or manipulation, they are arguing to the campaign that the suspicious pattern merits an independent review — especially in light of the fact that the Obama White House has accused the Russian government of hacking the Democratic National Committee." They're not alone. 130,000 people and counting have signed a petition calling for an audit of the vote. Heba Abedin, Clinton confidante Huma Abedin's sister, repeated the call on Facebook. She encouraged her followers to call the Department of Justice (202-353-1555) and register their support for the audit.

Voter fraud on the scale suggested by the activists is completely unprecedented in U.S. elections. Calling for an audit or recount of the vote is, in fact, a tactic currently being used by North Carolina governor Pat McCrory, who was defeated by his Democratic challenger. The deadlines to file for recounts in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan are Friday, Monday, and next Wednesday