Recounts will strengthen our democracy

Even though he won the election, don’t remind Donald Trump that he lost the popular vote. He gets testy.

So testy, in fact, that he’s now lying about how he lost, just to save face.

“I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally,” Trump said in a tweet on Sunday.

Despite Trump having no evidence for his claims, his statement shows his anxiety over the possible recount that is set to take place as soon as this week in Wisconsin, where Trump only won by around 27,000 votes. The effort was launched by former Green Party Presidential candidate Jill Stein who has raised a total of $6.5 million so far to fund a recount in three states so far. Michigan and Pennsylvania could be next.

The recount effort has been criticized and mocked by those, including Trump, who believe Clinton supporters are refusing to accept the results of the election, failing to understand the purpose of the recount in the first place. At this point, the recount effort is not about changing the outcome of the election but rather a confirmation that our democratic process is accurate and every vote is counted properly, a notion Trump has questioned regularly both before and now. A recount does not undermine our democracy — it enhances it.

Stein explained her reasoning for pursuing the recounts in a CNN interview this past weekend, saying, “We must recount the votes so we can build trust in our election system. We need to verify the vote in this and every election so that Americans of all parties can be sure we have a fair, secure and accurate voting system.”

Such efforts are necessary in part because of Trump’s outlandish lies but also because of actual issues at the voting booths. Election lawyers and computer scientists — including J. Alex Halderman, the director of the University of Michigan Center for Computer Security and Society — urged Clinton’s campaign to file recounts in the three states after voting irregularities indicated problems with the electronic voting machines, possible tampering or fraud.

In Wisconsin, the group showed that Clinton consistently received 7 percent fewer votes in counties that used electronic voting machines compared to counties using paper ballots and scanners. Their analysis showed Clinton could have lost up to 30,000 votes, a figure that would have caused her to win the state.

The concern of Stein and many others for the integrity of the popular vote stems from the attacks that took place against the Democratic National Convention this past summer when around 19,000 emails were stolen and leaked to the public.

This attack was confirmed to have come from the Russian government when the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Homeland Security jointly claimed,“ The U.S. Intelligence Community is confident that the Russian Government directed the recent compromises of e-mails… These thefts and disclosures are intended to interfere with the U.S. election process.”

Because of Russia’s meddling and its obvious favoritism toward Trump, Stein’s effort to have a recount in these states is not unfounded, as there is reasonable doubt.

Even with this, conservative critics like The Blaze’s Sarah Lee asserted that the Stein campaign is attempting to steal the money they raise for her own political benefit after Stein’s team said it was possible that not all of the funds would go to the recount effort. It is impossible to definitively say what will happen with the money Stein raised on behalf of a recount until the process actually occurs.

Lee also went on to agree with Trump, saying that he was able to accept the results of the election while Clinton could not. Yet before the votes were counted the first time, Clinton said she would accept the results of the election no matter what the outcome would have been — unlike Trump, who stated that he would not accept the results of the election unless he won. Despite this, the idea of the winner accepting their victory and the loser amiably accepting defeat is not what this recount is about. The recount is unlikely to flip the election, but it will quiet Trump’s complaints of voter fraud.

Hillary Clinton gave her concession speech, and her supporters, including myself, are accepting the fact she lost the election. The purpose of both the Stein and now Clinton campaigns’ efforts is to not only bring finality to the vote but also to assure that the voice of the American people is upheld and to show our system is not as corrupt as Trump claims it is.

The concerns that arise in an effort to uphold our democracy should live by the motto that as Americans, we all have the right to vote. There should be no bias in party affiliation on whose vote would fit your own agenda best.

So, Mr. Trump, if you are so concerned that people voted illegally, or you still feel you won the popular vote, let the Stein and Hillary campaigns go through with the recount. It will put your mind at ease that the election was in fact not rigged and bring reality to your falsified claims.

Though I am not hopeful this recount will lead to a change in the elections results, I sure as hell hope it does. It would be enjoyable to see your narcissistic and unpatriotic attitude toward our democracy turn cold as Clinton takes the seat from you and the rest of your team.

Saket primarily writes on politics for The Pitt News.

Write to him at Smr122@pitt.edu.