IIRC a recount does exactly what you ' d think , recounts the votes by hand , but an audit checks for hacking and fraudulent results in the voting machines and corrects for any errors or , if they can ' t be corrected , voids the results of rigged precincts . You can ' t just request an audit though , you have to have actionable evidence of hacking and fraud and go through the DoJ . But handchecking for any irregularities in a recount , which candidates and parties who were on the ballot of which Jill Stein was one can request if they have the funds to pay for it , would be a good way to find that evidence if it exists . If sufficient evidence is found for an audit though , we don ' t have to pay for the audit because at that point it ' s a criminal investigation for election fraud . You don ' t have to pay the police to find out who stole your car , right ?