Donald Trump supporters have filed legal challenges in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin to halt recount efforts for the presidential election. Green Party candidate Jill Stein started a push to get a recount going in a few states, but her efforts have faced some roadblocks.
Although Trump has tweeted his distaste for the recount, the lawsuits have not been filed by Trump himself but some PACs that support him. The lawsuit against the Wisconsin Election Commission was filed by the Great American PAC, the Stop Hillary PAC, and Ronald Johnson on the grounds that recount efforts would only “cast doubt” on Trump’s victory. Johnson’s sentiment was echoed by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, who believed the recount would hurt Michigan residents by “paying millions and potentially losing their voice in the Electoral College in the process.”
The Wisconsin recount was already underway as of Thursday after Stein paid the $3.5 million required for the recount efforts. Eric Beach, co-chairman of Great America PAC, issued a statement claiming the recount effort would only waste resources saying, “Jill Stein is clearly not entitled under statute to a recount and for the state board to allow it would be a massive waste of taxpayer resources in violation of the plain reading of the statute.”
As of Friday though, the Wisconsin Elections Commission is telling staff to keep the recount efforts going:
Recount will continue unless a judge orders otherwise. Keep counting!
— Wisconsin Elections (@WI_Elections) December 2, 2016
The Michigan recount, on the other hand, is still pending as The New York Times reports that the Board of State Canvassers convened to discuss halting the recount, but the four-member board — two Republicans and two Democrats — came to a split decision, meaning the recount objection was in itself rejected. Over in Pennsylvania, some are arguing the recount efforts will cost too much, but Stein issued a statement saying the recount should be an effort to put “party politics above country:”
“In an election already tainted by suspicion, previously expressed by Donald Trump himself. Verifying the vote is a common-sense procedure that would put all concerns around voter disenfranchisement to rest. Trump’s desperate attempts to silence voter demands for recounts raise a simple question: why is Donald Trump afraid of these recounts?”
USA Today reports that in Wisconsin, a candidate can request a recount, but if the returning votes show the candidate lost by more than 0.25 percent, they will have to pay for it.
(Via USA Today & New York Times)