Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein ’s efforts “to ensure the integrity of our elections” and request recounts in three battleground states — Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — has raised enough money — and then some — to meet Wisconsin’s Friday deadline, per her campaign website.

Stein launched her eleventh-hour effort to challenge the vote count in the three key states this week and collected more than $2 million on day one Wednesday after a longshot presidential campaign in which she managed to raise just $3.5 million. By Friday, donors had contributed more than $5 million.

The three states Stein is targeting doled out 46 electoral college votes to Trump, helping him get 306 of the 270 electoral college votes needed to become president. The margin was so narrow — Trump beat Clinton by just 10,704 votes in “the closest race for president in Michigan’s history” — that the possibility of a vote recount or audit seemed inevitable to some people.

Stein seized on these calls for a recount and by Friday, she needed less than $2 million to pay the costs associated with ones in each state, which her website says could cost up to $7 million in all.

Could Stein’s efforts affect the presidential election? What difference could it make? And how exactly would a vote recount in these three states work? We researched answers to some of these and other questions.

What are the deadlines?

Wisconsin’s deadline to request for a vote recount is Friday at 5 p.m. Central Time, 3 p.m. Pacific. Pennsylvania’s deadline to ask for a vote recount has passed, but the deadline to contest the election in court is Monday. Michigan’s deadline to ask for a vote recount is Wednesday.

Update: The Green Party reportedly filed its petition to recount votes in Wisconsin by the state’s Friday deadline, according to the Wisconsin Elections Commission. Here’s a photo of her filing the petition.

https://twitter.com/WI_Elections/status/802272590257537024

Why these three states?

Votes in the three states fell under suspicion when several credible scientists cast doubts about the voting systems being used. One prominent University of Michigan computer science professor said it was more likely that “polls were systematically wrong” rather than hacked.

Soon after, Stein echoed those concerns on her campaign website, saying she is focused on the “three states where the data suggests significant discrepancies in vote totals.”

Adding to suspicions on the voting systems, the latest polling results indicated Trump had won a significant number of electoral college votes, 46, by a small margins in the three states — by 10,704 votes (or 0.2 percent) in Michigan, by 22,525 votes (or 0.8 percent) in Wisconsin, and 70,638 votes (or 1.2 percent) in Pennsylvania, according to the nonpartisan Cook Political Report. In theory then, Clinton, who won 232 electoral college votes, could surpass the 270 votes needed to win the presidency if all three states flipped in her favor.

How would Stein’s money be spent?

The money raised by Stein’s recount effort would pay for filing fees and attorney fees, according to her campaign website. Wisconsin’s filing fees are $1.1 million, Pennsylvania’s are $500,000 and Michigan’s are $600,000. Up to $3 million in attorney fees could be needed to execute the recount, according to the website.

Where is the money coming from?

Stein’s ability to raise more than $5 million dollars in a matter of days is pretty remarkable considering her website asks for a maximum of $2,700 per donor. As of now, it’s unclear whether any major donors are pouring in larger amounts, but it seems the money seems to be coming mostly from small individual donations.

What can actually be accomplished?

A recount of votes by hand could be a lengthy and costly process but some people are already beginning to express skepticism over what can be accomplished with this recount effort. The “fine print” in Stein’s fundraising website says it “cannot guarantee a recount will happen in any of these states” and that it can only vow to “demand recounts.”

Any surplus money would instead “go toward election integrity efforts and to promote voting system reform,” according to the website. That has led to some suspicion and, predictably, some jokes, such as this one from comedian Tim Young.

https://twitter.com/TimRunsHisMouth/status/801633246597545986

Is Stein helping Hillary Clinton regain a chance to win?

According to Stein’s website, the answer is no. In an interview with PBS NewsHour, Stein reiterated that point by saying the effort will not likely change the results of the presidential election and that “this is not being done to benefit one candidate at the expense of the other.”

https://twitter.com/NewsHour/status/801926986885001216

Is Clinton involved in this effort?

At the moment it doesn’t appear Clinton or her campaign is involved in Stein’s recount efforts but her supporters have lobbied the candidate to challenge the results anyway.

https://twitter.com/yashar/status/801177640291823616

So what’s Trump’s take?

He hasn’t said anything yet, perhaps surprisingly. We’ll keep tabs on his Twitter feed and other outlets and update this post if he weighs in.

Are there other important deadlines to keep in mind?

Yes, the nation’s electors meet on Dec. 19 to formally vote on the Electoral College results. And the president-elect will be sworn into office on Jan. 20. Buckle up, America.

What are people saying about all this?

There is no shortage of opinions. Stein and Clinton supporters — and Trump critics — are advocating for an audit of all the votes in a similar way Democrats challenged the 2000 presidential election when Florida votes were recounted. Others are skeptical and see this as exploitation by the Green Party candidate.

https://twitter.com/AdamParkhomenko/status/801862476610605056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/ConservRachel/status/802226677132759041

https://twitter.com/allthingsdem/status/802226669025005568

https://twitter.com/PrisonPlanet/status/802158801629704196

https://twitter.com/GeorgeTakei/status/802235360394809344

What do you think about Stein’s recall effort? Tell us what you think.

Email: luis.gomez@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @RunGomez

UPDATES:

1:45 p.m.: This article was updated with details announcing the Green Party’s petition to recount votes in Wisconsin by its Friday deadline.

This article was originally published at 12:00 p.m.