Florida: Hand recount begins for tight US Senate race
A hand recount began Friday in Florida’s acrimonious U.S. Senate contest after an initial review by ballot-counting machines showed Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson separated by fewer than 13,000 votes out of more than 8 million cast. Under state law, a hand review is required when the victory margin is 0.25 percentage points or less. A state website’s unofficial results show Scott ahead of Nelson by 0.15 percentage points. A hand recount in the Senate race does not review all votes that were cast. It will involve only that fraction of ballots in which voters cast either two votes for one race, which is called an overvote, or appeared to choose no candidate, which is an undervote. The idea is to figure out a voter’s intent. At a warehouse in Broward County — which has had numerous problems throughout the election — dozens of volunteers sitting at folding tables cheered loudly when they were told they had finished the recount Friday morning for the Senate race and could go home for the day. Results were not immediately announced. The margin in the governor’s race between Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Andrew Gillum was 0.41 percent. That means the contest for governor appeared all but over Thursday, with a machine recount showing DeSantis with a large enough advantage over Gillum to avoid a hand recount in that race. Gillum, who conceded on Election Night only to retract his concession later, said in a statement that “it is not over until every legally casted vote is counted.” The overall recount has been fraught with problems. One large Democratic stronghold in South Florida was unable to finish its machine recount by the Thursday deadline due to machines breaking down. A federal judge rejected a request to extend the recount deadline. “We gave a heroic effort,” said Palm Beach Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher. If the county had three or four more hours, it would have made the deadline to recount ballots in the Senate race, she said. Meanwhile, election officials in another urban county in the Tampa Bay area decided against turning in the results of their machine recount, which came up with 846 fewer votes than originally counted. And news outlets in South Florida reported that Broward County finished its machine recount but missed the deadline by a few minutes. Scott called on Nelson to end the recount battle. It’s time for Nelson “to respect the will of the voters and graciously bring this process to an end rather than proceed with yet another count of the votes — which will yield the same result and bring more embarrassment to the state that we both love and have served,” the governor’s statement said. The margin between Scott and Nelson had not changed much in the last few days, conceded Marc Elias, an attorney working for Nelson’s campaign. But he said he expects it to shrink due to the hand recount and the ruling on signatures. Six election-related lawsuits are pending in federal court in Tallahassee, and at least one in state court. The situation drew the ire of U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, who slammed the state for repeatedly failing to anticipate election problems. He also said the state law on recounts appears to violate the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that decided the presidency in 2000. “We have been the laughingstock of the world, election after election, and we chose not to fix this,” Walker said at a hearing Thursday. Late Thursday, Walker rejected a challenge by Nelson and Democrats to the rules of the hand recount in the Senate race. During the hand recount, elections officials look at just the ballots that weren’t recorded by voting machines. Walker found the state’s rules were reasonable and constitutional. Walker also ordered that voters be given until 5 p.m. Saturday to show a valid identification and fix their ballots if they haven’t been counted due to mismatched signatures. Republicans challenged this order and were turned down by an appeals court. State officials testified that nearly 4,000 mailed-in ballots were set aside because local officials decided the signatures on the envelopes did not match the signatures on file. If those voters can prove their identity, their votes will now be counted and included in final official returns due from each county by noon Sunday. Walker was asked by Democrats to require local officials to provide a list of people whose ballots were rejected. But the judge refused the request as “inappropriate.” Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Federal judge: Florida is ‘laughing stock of the world’
A federal judge slammed Florida on Thursday for repeatedly failing to anticipate election problems, and said the state law on recounts appears to violate the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that decided the presidency in 2000. “We have we have been the laughing stock of the world, election after election, and we chose not to fix this,” U.S. District Judge Mark Walker said in court. Walker vented his anger at state lawmakers but also Palm Beach County officials, saying they should have made sure they had enough equipment in place to handle this kind of a recount. Walker also said he’s not happy about the idea of extending recount deadlines without limit. The overarching problem was created by the Florida Legislature, which Walker said passed a recount law that appears to run afoul of the 2000 Bush v. Gore decision, by locking in procedures that don’t allow for potential problems. A total of six election-related lawsuits are pending in Tallahassee. Earlier Thursday, Walker ordered that voters be given until 5 p.m. Saturday to show a valid identification and fix their ballots if they haven’t been counted due to mismatched signatures. Florida’s 67 counties have faced a 3 p.m. Thursday deadline to finish recounts that could determine the next senator and governor in one of America’s top political battlegrounds. Republicans said they would immediately appeal. State officials testified that nearly 4,000 mailed-in ballots were set aside because local officials decided the signature on the envelope didn’t match the signature on file. If these voters can prove their identity, their votes will now be counted and included in final official returns due from each county by noon Sunday. Meanwhile, the ongoing recount threatens to stretch into the weekend. The election supervisor in Palm Beach County, a Democratic stronghold, warned they may not meet Thursday’s initial deadline. U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and Democrats want that looming deadline set aside, and other lawsuits could lead to more delays. More than a week after Election Day, an immediate resolution seems remote. Once the machine recount is complete, state law requires a hand review of races with margins of less than 0.25 percentage points. This almost certainly means another recount in the Senate race, with unofficial results showing Republican Gov. Rick Scott ahead of Nelson by 0.14 percentage points. Also, the election won’t be certified until Tuesday, even though the machine recount may essentially bring a conclusion to the governor’s race, where Republican Ron DeSantis leads Democrat Andrew Gillum by 0.41 percentage points in unofficial results. Nelson, a three-time incumbent, has defended his legal strategy that resulted in Walker’s ruling, saying in a statement Wednesday that “it remains the most important goal of my campaign to make sure that every lawful vote be counted correctly in this Senate race, and that Floridians’ right to participate in this process is protected.” Republicans, however, say in their own lawsuits and motions that Democrats are trying to change the rules after the voting didn’t go their way. “We will continue to fight to defend Florida law and uphold the will of the voters,” said Chris Hartline, a spokesman for Scott. Nelson and Democrats had wanted Walker to order the counting of all mail-in ballots rejected for a mismatched signature, arguing that local election officials aren’t handwriting experts. Walker said he could not go along with that suggestion. “Let this court be clear: It is not ordering county canvassing boards to count every mismatched vote, sight unseen,” Walker wrote in his 34-page ruling. “Rather, the county supervisors of elections are directed to allow those voters who should have had an opportunity to cure their ballots in the first place to cure their vote-by-mail and provisional ballots now, before the second official results are fully counted. This should give sufficient time, within the state’s and counties current administrative constraints, for Florida’s voters to ensure their votes will be counted.” Lauren Schenone, a spokeswoman for Scott, called Walker’s ruling “baseless” and said they were “confident” it would be overturned by the Atlanta-based appellate court. The developments are fueling frustrations among Democrats and Republicans alike. Democrats want state officials to do whatever it takes to make sure every eligible vote is counted. Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have argued without evidence that voter fraud threatens to steal races from the GOP. Just when state officials will get recount results from all counties remains unclear. Tallying machines overheated earlier this week in Palm Beach County. That caused mismatched results with the recount of 174,000 early voting ballots, forcing staffers to go back and redo their work. The county’s Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher said the machines underwent maintenance right before the election, but “I don’t think they were designed to work 24/7.” Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Donald Trump calls on Florida Democrat to concede, implies fraud
President Donald Trump sought to intervene in Florida’s legally mandated vote recount Tuesday, calling on the state’s Democratic senator to admit defeat and again implying without evidence that officials in two pivotal counties are trying to steal the election. “When will Bill Nelson concede in Florida?” Trump said in a morning tweet. “The characters running Broward and Palm Beach voting will not be able to ‘find’ enough votes, too much spotlight on them now!” There have been bumps as Florida undergoes recounts for both the governor and Senate races. Palm Beach County said it won’t finish its recount by the Thursday deadline. In oft-criticized Broward County, additional sheriff’s deputies were sent to guard ballots and voting machines, a compromise aimed at alleviating concerns. Those counties are both Democratic strongholds. Still, the state elections department and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which are run by Republican appointees, have said they have seen no evidence of voter fraud. A Broward County judge challenged anyone who has evidence of fraud to file a report. Meanwhile, a flurry of legal action continued. Nelson and a Democratic campaign committee filed two more lawsuits on Tuesday, including one that asks a federal judge to set aside looming deadlines for a machine recount as well as a hand recount, if it is ordered. Presidents have historically sought to rise above the heated partisan drama surrounding election irregularities. Former President Barack Obama wasn’t so publicly involved when a recount and legal process in the 2008 election delayed a Democrat taking a Minnesota Senate seat until July 2009. Former President Bill Clinton struck a lower tone during the 2000 presidential recount, which also centered on Florida. But this year, the Florida recount was personal for Trump. He aggressively campaigned in the state in the waning days of the election and put his finger on the scales of the Republican gubernatorial primary this summer by endorsing former Rep. Ron DeSantis. After Election Day, Trump’s aides pointed to the GOP’s seeming success in the state as a validation that the president’s path to re-election remained clear — a narrative that has grown hazier as the outcomes have become less certain. White House spokeswoman Mercedes Schlapp said Tuesday the president “obviously has his opinion” on the recount. “It’s been incredibly frustrating to watch,” she said. U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said Trump is attempting to bully Florida election officials out of doing their jobs. Schumer and Nelson, both Democrats, spoke with reporters Tuesday in Washington. “It’s just plain wrong. It’s un-American.” Schumer said. “If he really wants an honest and fair election, President Trump will stop bullying, harassing and lying about the vote in Florida, and let the election proceed without the heavy hand of the president tipping the scale of justice.” Schumer said election officials should have all the time they need to count every vote, rather than Sunday’s deadline. Nelson and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee filed two lawsuits aimed at that goal. One lawsuit questions rules used by the state for hand recounts, while a second asks a federal judge to give counties more time to complete both a machine and a hand recount. Right now counties are doing a machine recount. Marc Elias, a campaign attorney for Nelson, contended there was no legal need for the existing deadlines since the Senate winner would not be sworn in until January. Still, there’s not much choice but for Florida to go through the process. State law requires a machine recount in races where the margin is less than 0.5 percentage points. In the Senate race, Republican Rick Scott‘s lead over Nelson was 0.14 percentage points. In the governor’s contest, unofficial results showed Republican former Rep. Ron DeSantis ahead of Democratic Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum by 0.41 percentage points. Once the recount is complete, if the differences in any of the races are 0.25 percentage points or less, a hand recount will be ordered, meaning it could take even longer to complete the review of the Senate race if the difference remains narrow. The recount process has drawn a sharp focus on several county election officials, especially Broward Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes. Snipes has drawn criticism from Trump and other high-profile Republicans as her county’s election returns showed a narrowing lead for Scott during the ballot-counting in the days after Election Day, and even former Gov. Jeb Bush — who appointed her in 2003 — said she should be removed. Asked about those criticisms Tuesday, she hinted that she may not run for re-election in 2020. “It is time to move on,” she said, later adding, “I’ll check with my family and they’ll tell me what I’m doing.” Speaking to about 200 supporters in Orlando church Tuesday night, Gillum said claims without evidence by Trump, Scott and Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio that electoral fraud was taking place were sowing seeds that could undermine confidence in the democratic process. “Disenfranchisement shows up with the president of the United States, the sitting governor of the state of Florida, the junior senator of the United States from the state of Florida when they take to Twitter, and Facebook and … accuse the supervisor of elections, or an entire county for that matter, of fraud, of stuffing the ballot box, of doing everything they could do manipulate the outcome of the election without a shred of evidence. That is called disenfranchisement,” Gillum said. Meanwhile, in Palm Beach, Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher said the county’s 11-year-old tallying machines aren’t fast enough to complete the recount by Thursday. The county is doing the Senate race first and will then do the governor’s race. If the deadline is not met in a race, the results it reported Saturday will stand. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Florida recount chugs along as more irregularities surface
Florida’s election recount is chugging along as more irregularities are uncovered and a judge asked the warring sides to “ramp down the rhetoric,” saying it erodes public confidence in the election for Senate and governor. One county revealed Monday that it had allowed some hurricane-displaced voters to cast their ballots by email — a violation of state law. Another had to restart its recount after getting about a quarter finished because someone forgot to push a button. Palm Beach said it won’t finish its recount by the Thursday deadline. And in oft-criticized Broward County, additional sheriff’s deputies were sent to guard ballots and voting machines, even though a judge said no Republican who has publicly alleged fraud in the county’s process — a list that includes President Donald Trump and Gov. Rick Scott — has presented any evidence to law enforcement. “An honest vote count is no longer possible” in Florida, Trump declared Monday, without elaborating. He demanded that the election night results — which showed the Republicans leading based upon incomplete ballot counts — be used to determine the winner. Trump went on to allege that “new ballots showed up out of nowhere, and many ballots are missing or forged” and that “ballots (are) massively infected.” It was unclear what he was referring to. State law requires a machine recount in races where the margin is less than 0.5 percentage points. In the Senate race, Scott’s lead over incumbent Democrat Bill Nelson was 0.14 percentage points. In the governor’s contest, unofficial results showed Republican former Rep. Ron DeSantis ahead of Democratic Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum by 0.41 percentage points. Once the recount is complete, if the differences in any of the races are 0.25 percentage points or less, a hand recount will be ordered. All 67 counties face a state-ordered deadline of Thursday to finish their recounts. Trump’s comments came just hours before Broward Chief Circuit Judge Jack Tuter held an emergency hearing on a request by Scott’s lawyers that deputies be put in charge of ballots and voting machines that aren’t being used until the recount is over. An attorney for Election Supervisor Brenda Snipes described layers of security including keycard and password access to rooms where ballots are kept, secured by deputies and monitored by security cameras and representatives of both campaigns and parties. Scott’s lawyers had alleged in court documents that Snipes was engaging in “suspect and unlawful vote counting practices” that violate state law and that she might “destroy evidence of any errors, accidents or unlawful conduct.” The judge said he could see no evidence of any violations, and said “I am urging because of the highly public nature of this case to ramp down the rhetoric.” “If someone in this lawsuit or someone in this county has evidence of voter fraud or irregularities at the supervisor’s office, they should report it to their local law enforcement officer,” Tuter said. “If the lawyers are aware of it, they should swear out an affidavit, but everything the lawyers are saying out there in front of the elections office is being beamed all over the country. We need to be careful of what we say. Words mean things these days.” Scott’s motion was supported by lawyers representing the state Republican Party and opposed by Snipes’ office, Nelson’s campaign and the state Democratic Party. After Tuter told all sides to meet to discuss a compromise, they agreed to add three deputies to the elections office. Meanwhile, Elections Supervisor Mark Andersen in heavily Republican Bay County told the Miami Herald on Monday that he allowed about 150 people to cast ballots by email, which is illegal under state law. The county was devastated by a Category 4 hurricane in October, and Scott ordered some special provisions for early voting there. Manatee County, south of Tampa Bay, had to restart its recount Monday because a needed button on the machine wasn’t pushed. The error was caught after about a quarter of the county’s nearly 165,000 votes had been recounted, said Michael Bennett, the county’s Republican elections supervisor. It shouldn’t affect the county’s ability to meet Thursday’s deadline. In Palm Beach, Elections Supervisor Susan Bucher said the county’s 11-year-old tallying machines aren’t fast enough to complete the recount by Thursday. The county is doing the Senate race first and will then do the governor. If the deadline is not met in a race, the results it reported last Saturday will stand. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Possible recounts loom in tight Florida gov, Senate contests
Republican Gov. Rick Scott has alleged — without citing evidence — that elections officials in South Florida are trying to “steal” the election for Democrats as razor-thin margins raise the specter of recounts and court battles in the state’s races for Senate and governor. In the governor’s race, Democrat Andrew Gillum‘s campaign said Thursday it’s readying for a possible recount. The race has tightened since he conceded to Republican Ron DeSantis on Tuesday night. As of Thursday afternoon, DeSantis led Gillum by 0.47 percentage point. Meanwhile, Democratic incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson has begun preparing for a potential recount in a race still too close to call against Scott, who is leaving the governor’s seat because of term limits. Nelson’s lawyer called that race a “jump ball.” Scott’s campaign urged Nelson to concede. Scott held a 0.21 percentage lead over Nelson on Thursday afternoon. Florida’s is a perennial swing state, and many of its elections have been decided by the thinnest of margins since 2000, when Florida decided the presidency by 537 votes in a contest that took more than five weeks to sort out. Still, the state has never seen so many dead heats in one year. And like 2000, the counting process is becoming contentious. Scott said at a news conference Thursday night that he was asking the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate elections offices in the Democratic strongholds of Palm Beach and Broward counties, questioning whether they are taking too long in vote-counting in some sort of effort to inflate the Democratic vote. “I will not stand idly by as unethical liberals try to steal this election from the great people of Florida,” Scott said. Scott cited no evidence of wrongdoing, and the counties have until noon Saturday to report their unofficial vote count. FDLE Spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger said the law enforcement agency would follow up on Scott’s request. But the agency did not announce an investigation. Scott’s campaign separately filed a lawsuit demanding that the Broward County supervisor of elections turn over several records detailing the counting and collection of ballots cast for each day of the past week. A hearing on that case was set for Friday afternoon. Nelson’s campaign released a statement saying Scott’s action appears to be politically motivated and borne of desperation. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump tweeted: “Law Enforcement is looking into another big corruption scandal having to do with Election Fraud in #Broward and Palm Beach. Florida voted for Rick Scott!” Trump also said it was possible the federal government could get involved in the Florida vote count. “All of the sudden they are finding votes out of nowhere,” he said. “What’s going on in Florida is a disgrace.” Under Florida law, a recount is mandatory if the winning candidate’s margin is less than 0.5 percentage points when the first unofficial count is verified Saturday by Florida’s secretary of state. Sarah Revell, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of State, didn’t know of any other recount in a governor or Senate race in state history. The Associated Press has called the governor’s race for DeSantis. If Saturday’s count shows DeSantis with a margin narrow enough to trigger a recount, AP will retract its call for DeSantis. It is AP policy not to call a race that is facing a recount. The AP has not called a winner in the Senate race. Gillum’s campaign said it has hired attorney Barry Richard, who represented President George W. Bush in the 2000 recount, and is monitoring the situation. Gillum’s campaign said his initial concession Tuesday night was based on “best information available about the number of outstanding ballots” at the time. “Since that time, it has become clear there are many more uncounted ballots than was originally reported,” the campaign said. “We are committed to ensuring every single vote in Florida is counted.” DeSantis declined to discuss prospects for a recount, telling reporters he’s “very proud to be elected.” “We’re working really hard on the transition,” he said. Florida was mocked for its handling of the infamous 2000 recount. At the time, the state lacked uniform rules for how to proceed. That has changed, with the Legislature passing a clear procedure on how a recount should be conducted. “This is not like it was in 2000. There’s not a lot of room for strategy,” Richard said. Broward Elections Supervisor Brenda Snipes said she didn’t know how many ballots remain to be counted, but all were being processed. She also did not know how many provisional, military and mismarked ballots need to be counted. Her department’s website said ballots cast on Election Day have been counted. Marc Elias, a lawyer hired by Nelson, said he expects the margin to narrow further. “The results of the 2018 Senate election are unknown and I think that you and the elections officials should treat it as such,” Elias told reporters on a conference call. “We believe that at the end of this process that Senator Nelson is going to be declared the winner.” Once Florida counties submit their unofficial election results to the Department of State, Secretary of State Ken Detzner, a Scott appointee, will review the results and decide whether to order recounts. In yet a third statewide seat — the Cabinet position of agriculture commissioner — the candidates were separated by 483 votes out of more than 8 million cast — a margin of 0.006 percent. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
John Merrill says recount in Ala. Senate race unlikely to help Roy Moore
Secretary of State of Alabama John Merrill told CNN’s Jake Tapper it was “highly unlikely” that Democrat Doug Jones would not be certified as the winner of Tuesday’s special election for the U.S. Senate seat. “I would find that highly unlikely to occur, Jake,” Merrill told Tapper when asked whether he expected anyone other than Jones to be Alabama’s next Senator. “The people of Alabama have spoken tonight,” Merrill told CNN. “They’ve made their voice heard loud and clear. The most important thing to remember now is the process needs to be followed to ensure that the integrity, the safety and security of the election is preserved.” Merrill’s on-air comments came late Tuesday night in the wake of Jones’ Republican opponent, Roy Moore telling his supporters he isn’t conceding yet. “When the vote is this close … it’s not over,” Moore told supporters late Tuesday night after Jones declared victory. Merrill made it very clear that an automatic recount had not been triggered based on the numbers between the two candidates Tuesday night — Jones receiving 671,151 votes (50 percent), to Moore’s 650,436 votes (48 percent). With an additional 22,819 (2 percent) write-ins. He confirmed with CNN that any candidate can request a recount, if they pay for it on their own. But he personally believes it’s very unlikely Tuesday night’s results would change. Merrill must now certify the votes, which includes counting provisional and military ballots. He said the certification process will start no earlier than December 26, and not later than Jan. 3. Pending completion of the certification, Moore’s campaign may request a recount.
US judge rejects Green Party’s Pennsylvania recount case
A federal judge on Monday issued a stinging rejection of a Green Party-backed request to recount paper ballots in Pennsylvania’s presidential election, won by Republican Donald Trump, and scan some counties’ election systems for signs of hacking. In his 31-page decision, U.S. District Judge Paul Diamond said there were at least six grounds that required him to reject the Green Party’s lawsuit, which had been opposed by Trump, the Pennsylvania Republican Party and the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office. Suspicion of a hacked Pennsylvania election “borders on the irrational” while granting the Green Party’s recount bid could “ensure that that no Pennsylvania vote counts” given Tuesday’s federal deadline to certify the vote for the Electoral College, Diamond wrote. “Most importantly, there is no credible evidence that any ‘hack’ occurred, and compelling evidence that Pennsylvania’s voting system was not in any way compromised,” Diamond wrote. He also said the lawsuit suffered from a lack of standing, potentially the lack of federal jurisdiction and an “unexplained, highly prejudicial” wait before filing last week’s lawsuit. The decision was the Green Party’s latest roadblock in Pennsylvania after hitting numerous walls in county and state courts. Green Party-backed lawyers argue that it was possible that computer hackers changed the election outcome and that Pennsylvania’s heavy use of paperless machines makes it a prime target. Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein also contended that Pennsylvania has erected unconstitutional barriers to voters seeking a recount. It is part of a broader effort by Stein to recount votes in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Trump won all three states narrowly over Democrat Hillary Clinton, while Stein captured about 1 percent of the vote, or less, in all three states. In Pennsylvania, Trump beat Clinton in Pennsylvania by about 44,000 votes out of 6 million cast. A federal judge halted Michigan’s recount last week after three days. The Wisconsin recount was expected to conclude Monday. With about 95 percent of the votes recounted as of Sunday, Clinton had gained 25 votes on Trump, but still trailed by about 22,000. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Lawsuits seek to block or halt Wisconsin, Michigan recounts
Supporters of Republican Donald Trump filed a federal lawsuit trying to halt Wisconsin’s ongoing presidential recount, and Michigan’s attorney general on Friday sued to stop a recount from happening in his state. The Wisconsin lawsuit and motion for a temporary restraining order was filed late Thursday in U.S. District Court in Madison by the Great America PAC, the Stop Hillary PAC and a Wisconsin voter, Ronald R. Johnson. The legal filings contend that the recount is unconstitutional because it doesn’t satisfy equal protection requirements under the law and may not get done by the Dec. 13 federal deadline to certify the vote, putting Wisconsin’s electoral votes in jeopardy. No court hearings had been scheduled as of Friday morning. The Wisconsin Department of Justice was reviewing the lawsuit, said Johnny Koremenos, spokesman for Attorney General Brad Schimel. Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who requested both recounts and a third in Pennsylvania, has suggested that Trump and his backers would try to delay the recounts to make them hard or impossible to complete by the Dec. 13 deadline for states to certify their election results or have their electoral votes be decided by Congress, which is controlled by Republicans. A spokeswoman for Stein’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment Friday. With workers in Wisconsin busy re-counting votes for a second day, Michigan’s state elections board was meeting about the Trump campaign’s request to deny Stein’s recount request. In his request to the Michigan Supreme Court to block the hand recount, Attorney General Bill Schuette, like the Trump campaign, argued that Stein cannot seek the “frivolous” recount because she was not “aggrieved” to the point at which a potential miscounting of votes could have cost her the election. She garnered 1 percent of the vote in Michigan. The earliest a Michigan recount could start would be next week. In Pennsylvania, a hearing is scheduled for Monday on Stein’s push to secure a court-ordered statewide recount there. Elections officials in all three states have expressed confidence in their results. President-elect Trump won all three states by narrow margins. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker echoed that sentiment Friday, telling reporters that he doesn’t expect his state’s recount to significantly change the results. “Anytime there’s a canvass or a recount there’s slight adjustments, but I don’t think you’re going to see a significant adjustment,” the Republican governor said. Walker also said he’s open to changing the state’s election laws to prevent minor candidates from being allowed to request recounts. Stein finished a distant fourth in Wisconsin with a little more than 1 percent of the vote. Trump won Wisconsin by about 22,000 votes, or less than 1 percentage point, over Clinton. Stein requested the recount which began on Thursday and had to be done by Dec. 13. There is a “realistic risk” the recount may not be done in time of the deadline and the “chaotic rushing necessary” to meet the deadline “creates an imminent unreasonable risk of error that can lead to votes being erroneously counted, disregarded, or diluted,” the motion for a temporary restraining order in Wisconsin contends. Michigan’s elections board on Friday was considering Trump’s request to block a hand recount of all 4.8 million ballots cast in the state. He defeated Clinton there by about 10,700 votes. In their filing to the election’s board, Trump’s lawyers argued that Stein, a “bottom-dwelling candidate,” shouldn’t be allowed to force an expensive and time-consuming recount. They also said in their objection that Stein waited until the last minute to file her recount petition Wednesday, making it impossible to finish by the Dec. 13 deadline. Stein countered Thursday that Trump’s “cynical efforts to delay the recount and create unnecessary costs for taxpayers are shameful and outrageous.” The first reporting of recount results was expected Friday in Wisconsin. Recounts were not expected to flip nearly enough votes to change the outcome in any of the states. Stein has argued, without evidence, that irregularities in the votes in all three states suggest that there could have been tampering with the vote, perhaps through a well-coordinated, highly complex cyberattack. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
Jill Stein makes Michigan third state for presidential recount
Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein on Wednesday requested a full hand recount of Michigan’s presidential vote, making it the third state narrowly won by Republican Donald Trump where she’s asked for another look at the results. Stein previously requested recounts of the presidential votes in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. President-elect Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton by 10,704 votes out of nearly 4.8 million ballots cast in Michigan, but Stein alleges that irregularities and the possibility that vote scanning devices could have been hacked call the results into question. Elections officials in all three states have expressed confidence in their election results. Michigan’s recount could start as early as Friday, though a challenge to the recount by Trump could delay it. Trump’s victory is highly unlikely to be reversed in any of the states, but Stein has said the recount will ensure the integrity of the election. Republicans have said a Michigan recount would cost taxpayers far more than the $973,000 Stein must pay when filing her recount petition. Meanwhile in Wisconsin, where Trump defeated Clinton by roughly 22,000 votes, Stein’s campaign said Wednesday that it won’t appeal a judge’s ruling that Wisconsin’s recount can be done without counting every ballot by hand. Stein spokeswoman Margy Levinson said in an email that the campaign decided not to appeal the ruling due to the tight time constraints for completing the Wisconsin recount, which begins Thursday. Most Wisconsin counties plan to recount their ballots by hand even though the judge’s ruling means they can choose to feed the ballots into tabulation machines to double-check the results. Levinson said Stein’s focus will be on verifying the vote on the ground and she encouraged counties to voluntarily conduct a hand recount. The Wisconsin Republican Party filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission on Wednesday alleging that Stein’s recount effort amounts to illegal coordination with Clinton designed to circumvent the law and public scrutiny. Stein campaign manager David Cobb said in a statement that Stein is not coordinating with anyone and dismissed the complaint as a “PR stunt to push a false narrative that will ultimately have no impact on the recount in Wisconsin.” Trump defeated Clinton in Pennsylvania by about 71,000 votes, or about 1 percentage point. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
