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UPDATE: Michigan board deadlocks on recount; lawsuits filed

Michigan board deadlocks, removes recount hurdle

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s elections board has deadlocked on President-elect Donald Trump’s request to prevent a recount, which means it will start next week unless the courts intervene.

Two Republicans voted Friday to prevent the recount, while two Democrats said it should proceed. A state spokesman said the statewide recount requested by Green Party candidate Jill Stein will begin Tuesday or Wednesday, barring a court order.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, a Republican, asked the state Supreme Court on Friday to intervene and stop the recount. That motion is pending.

A Wisconsin recount is underway, though his supporters have filed a federal lawsuit trying to stop in. In Pennsylvania, Trump is asking a court to dismiss Stein’s recount request.

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LANSING, Mich. (AP) — 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 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. Republican lawyers filed a motion late Thursday accusing Stein of engaging in legal antics and saying her recount request endangers Pennsylvania’s ability to certify its electors by the federal deadline.

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.

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LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s attorney general on Friday asked the state Supreme Court to block a potential recount of the state’s presidential vote, which was won by his fellow Republican, Donald Trump.

Attorney General Bill Schuette, like the Trump campaign, argued that Green Party candidate Jill 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 Michigan’s vote.

The filing delayed the start of a state election board meeting to consider Trump’s request to block the hand recount of all 4.8 million ballots cast in Michigan. Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in Michigan by 10,700 votes. The earliest a Michigan recount could start would be next week.

A recount is already underway in Wisconsin. Stein also wants a court-ordered statewide recount in Pennsylvania.

In Wisconsin, Trump supporters have filed a federal lawsuit trying to stop the state’s ongoing presidential election recount.

The lawsuit and request for a temporary restraining order was filed late Thursday in federal court in Madison. It was filed by the Great America PAC, the Stop Hillary PAC and Wisconsin voter Ronald R. Johnson.

The lawsuit contends the recount that started Thursday threatens the due process rights of Johnson and others who voted for Trump. Trump won Wisconsin and the recount was requested by Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein.

The lawsuit also argues that errors are likely in the recount, as election officials are rushing to meet a Dec. 13 deadline.

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.

Michigan’s elections board on Friday was to consider Trump’s request to block a hand recount of all 4.8 million ballots cast in the state he won by about 10,700 votes over Clinton.

In Michigan, lawyers for the Trump campaign argued Thursday that Stein, a “bottom-dwelling candidate,” cannot seek the expensive, time-consuming recount because she was not “aggrieved” to the point where potential miscounting of votes could have cost her the election. She garnered just 1 percent in Michigan.

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 a Dec. 13 deadline.

Stein countered that Trump’s “cynical efforts to delay the recount and create unnecessary costs for taxpayers are shameful and outrageous.” His objections suspended the planned Friday start of the recount until next week.

The first reporting of recount results was expected Friday in Wisconsin. In Pennsylvania, a hearing was scheduled for Monday on Stein’s push to secure a court-ordered statewide recount, a legal maneuver that has never been tried, according to one of the attorneys who filed it.

Recounts were not expected to flip nearly enough votes to change the outcome in any of the states.

The Wisconsin recount doesn’t carry nearly the same drama as the Florida recount in 2000, when the outcome of the presidential race between Al Gore and George W. Bush hung in the balance. Even so, the campaigns for Trump, Clinton and Stein all had observers spread throughout the state to watch the process.

The recount will have to move quickly. The federal deadline to certify the vote to avoid having the fate of Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes decided by Congress is Dec. 13. Even if that were to happen, the votes would almost certainly go to Trump, since Republicans control both chambers of Congress.

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