Voting system experts and studies of past elections have demonstrated that many of our voting machines are vulnerable to human or machine error, as well as tampering, hacking, and other potential malfeasance.

We want to clarify that our campaign has never sanctioned or supported the Democratic Party line that blamed incidents of hacking into state and Democratic Party databases on the Russians. In fact, throughout the campaign we condemned Russia-baiting by the Democrats as part of their reckless desire to enter into a dangerous conflict with Russia.

For the purpose of the recount, it doesn’t matter where the hacks originated. The point is that our voting system is vulnerable to malfeasance - whether it came from abroad or from a basement in Peoria. We have to get rid of tamper-prone electronic voting machines and work towards a verifiable paper ballot system, which is in line with the Green Party’s democracy reform platform.

In fact, what we have been able to uncover through the recounts so far is much more indicative of a domestic problem of everyday voter suppression and disenfranchisement of poor voters and voters of color as a result of the systemic neglect in these communities. For example, Michigan’s results included over 75,000 “under-votes” - ballots that were filled out except the vote for President - many of which were concentrated in Wayne and Oakland counties, in urban areas with large minority populations. A whopping 87 machines in Detroit alone malfunctioned on Election Day, rendering many of the precincts unable to be recounted due to a bizarre state law that prohibits recounts where there is a mismatch between the number of ballots and the voter rolls - discrepancies which indicate the need for a recount in the first place! As a result, many votes, especially those in poor communities and communities of color, may have simply gone uncounted.

While pursuing hand recounts could have gotten to the bottom of the issue and helped fix these widespread problems, Donald Trump and his GOP cronies in the state establishment have done everything they can to block this common-sense democratic process from going forward. We don’t have to go all the way to Russia to find out who’s responsible for a rigged system. We can pressure our own local and state officials - or replace them - to make sure we have an election system that we can trust; that is fair, secure, and just!