Green Party Withdraws Request for Recount in Pennsylvania Election

The Green Party of the United States is withdrawing its request for a recount of the presidential election votes in Pennsylvania. The party states that it is unable to gather the necessary funds for the court expenses in this state by Monday. Pennsylvania, alongside Michigan and Wisconsin, are the states where Jill Stein, the leader of this party and her lawyers were attempting to recount the votes. Donald Trump, the Republican candidate and the elected President of the United States, won in these three states on November 8. Pennsylvania is a key state and the fifth state in the U.S. in terms of electoral votes for entering the White House. Since 1988, Pennsylvania had always voted for a Democratic candidate, but this trend stopped in 2016. Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, recently announced that due to what her party's lawyers described as the possibility of hacking of the voting computer systems, she is calling for a recount in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. Ms. Stein has garnered nearly one percent of the total votes, but Hillary Clinton's campaign later stated that due to requests and messages from supporters of the Democratic candidate, they would join the recount process in Wisconsin. The recount process is time-consuming and costly, and ultimately, if the claims are not proven, the claimant must bear the costs. Michigan and Wisconsin also typically voted for the Democratic candidate. The recount in Michigan has begun, and in Wisconsin, it is set to start in the coming days. Meanwhile, Mr. Trump and Republicans, as well as some of Trump's critics, have criticized this action, stating that it will not change the final result. The Associated Press reports that Jill Stein's lawyers have not provided any evidence or witnesses regarding the possibility of fraud or hacking of the systems in Pennsylvania. They have attempted to conduct investigations in some counties. Pennsylvania's laws do not allow for a recount, and one of the Green Party's lawyers has stated that their efforts are futile. Republicans also claim that this issue could negatively impact the legal deadline for announcing the electoral votes of this state on December 13. The Associated Press states that as of Friday, the vote count in Pennsylvania, according to local officials, shows that out of 6 million votes cast, Trump is leading by 49,000 votes. The counting is still ongoing, but officials consider it nearly impossible for the result to change. The elected President of the United States will take over the government on January 20, 2017 - one and a half months from now. So far, the names of several officials that Mr. Trump intends to nominate for government positions have been announced or reported, including General Mattis for the Department of Defense or Steven Mnuchin for the Treasury Department.