Jill Stein has raised enough money to start #Recount2016 efforts

Impact

Jill Stein, the Green Party's 2016 presidential nominee, is demanding a recount. Stein has started a fundraiser to pay for recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, states in which her campaign says there is a need to "verify" votes tallied by machine. 

The fundraising is going extraordinarily well. As of 11:35 a.m. Eastern on Friday, Stein's efforts have raised more than $4.8 million, which surpasses the $4.5 million goal. That's more than enough money to file for a vote recount in each state.

President-elect Donald Trump won by just a 0.7% margin in Wisconsin, a 1.2% margin in Pennsylvania and a 0.3% margin in Michigan, the Guardian reported. Stein wasn't the runner up in any of these states or any state, for that matter. She received around 1.4 million votes total, putting her in fourth place behind Trump, Hillary Clinton and Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson. "Our effort to recount votes in those states is not intended to help Hillary Clinton," Stein's fundraising page says. 

What's the money for? The money Stein's campaign is raising will go toward paying for recount filing fees, attorney's fees and recount observers. 

The filing fees for each state are high — it costs $1.1 million to file for a recount in Wisconsin, $0.5 million in Pennsylvania and $0.6 million in Michigan, according to Stein's fundraising page. After that money is raised, Stein estimates that attorney's fees will cost around $2 million to $3 million. Those costs, plus recount observers will add up to a total cost of $6 million to $7 million. 

If Stein raises more money than is necessary for the recount, "the surplus will also go toward election integrity efforts," according to the fundraising page. 

Since the fundraiser started on Wednesday, the hashtag #Recount2016 has been gaining steam on Twitter. 

Nov. 25, 2016, 11:35 a.m.: This story has been updated.