Donald Trump’s Team Moves to Stop Jill Stein’s Vote Recounts in 3 States
Donald Trump backers have filed legal challenges in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan to stop the vote recounts being pushed by Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
Attorneys for Trump filed a complaint in Pennsylvania Thursday, arguing that Stein’s petition for a recount doesn’t state a valid claim and was not filed “in good faith, that the petitioners are not entitled to a recount and that the petitioners didn’t comply with the Election Code’s bonding requirement for bringing an election contest.
“Despite being no more than a blip on the electoral radar, Stein has now commandeered Pennsylvania’s electoral process, with an eye toward doing the same to the Electoral College,” the complaint says. “There is no evidence--or even an allegation--that any tampering with Pennsylvania’s voting systems actually occurred.”
Stein’s campaign manager David Cobb retaliated in a statement Friday, saying, "Donald Trump will do anything and everything to block Pennsylvania voters from knowing whether their votes counted. Why is he so worried about letting this recount move forward?
The Wisconsin challenge, filed by the Great America PAC, the Stop Hillary PAC and Ronald R. Johnson, a Wisconsin resident, argues that the recount violates the Supreme Court's test for equal protection in the recount process established in Bush v Gore.
“Particularly in conjunction with other baseless recounts sought by a candidate who did not win a single presidential elector, [the Wisconsin recount] may unjustifiably cast doubt upon the legitimacy of President-Elect Donald J. Trump’s victory,” the court filing reads.
The Michigan challenge by Trump campaign lawyers argues that Stein was not “aggrieved” enough where any potential vote miscount would have cost her the election.
Read More: Lawyer in Bush v. Gore: The 2016 Recount Is a Folly
Stein crowdfunded the money needed for all three recounts on her website and had raised $6.8 million by Friday afternoon.
Trump won Wisconsin by about 22,000 votes, Pennsylvania by 64,000 votes and Michigan by 10,000 votes, according to a vote tally by the New York Times.
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