Finished recount confirms Trump victory in Wisconsin

Twelve days and almost three million ballots later, Republican Donald Trump is still the winner of the presidential election in Wisconsin, state officials said Monday following a recount.

President-elect Trump won the Midwestern state by more than 22,000 votes in November, a margin that increased by 162 votes following the recount, according to preliminary statewide totals announced by Wisconsin's election commission.

Third-party candidate Jill Stein of the Green Party -- who received about one percent of the vote -- had spearheaded efforts to force recounts in Wisconsin as well as in Michigan and Pennsylvania. The three states were crucial to Trump's victory in the presidential contest.

Wisconsin -- a swing state that had voted Democratic in the past several presidential elections prior to 2016 -- started recounting its election ballots on December 1 to meet the Tuesday deadline for certifying the vote.

Courts blocked recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Fundraising efforts collected more than $7 million to pay for the recounts, which Stein said were necessary to address voting system cybersecurity issues as well as concerns over potential hacking.

The Wisconsin recount "was never about changing the outcome; it was about validating the vote and restoring confidence in our voting system to Americans across the country who have doubt," said in a statement.

"The recount in Wisconsin raised a number of important election integrity issues that bear further assessment and serious action to ensure we have integrity and confidence in our electoral system."

On Monday a federal judge rejected Stein's initiative to secure an election recount in Pennsylvania.

Trump's lawyers had filed suit there seeking to deny Stein's request.

Recount efforts were also thwarted in Michigan after another federal judge halted that drive, citing a lack of evidence that election fraud or errors had occurred.

Stein has criticized the opposition from the Trump campaign and his supporters, and said in Michigan a partial recount revealed "numerous red flags."