Michigan Republican Party Appeals Ruling Ordering Recount to Start

Updated. The Michigan Republican Party said Monday that it has appealing to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals a federal judge's decision ordering state election officials to begin recounting 4.8 million ballots cast in the 2016 presidential election.

“This is a Michigan issue, and should be handled by the Michigan court system,” Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ronna Romney McDaniel said in a statement. “Michigan courts should decide Michigan election law.”

The appeal will focus on arguments for abstention of the federal court, as well as laches, arguing that Jill Stein waited until the last possible moment to file a petition for recount, and thus, cannot ask the court to enjoin.

“Jill Stein’s lack of planning should not constitute emergency action of Michigan taxpayers and clerks,” McDaniel continued. “This recount is a waste of time, energy, and Michigan taxpayer dollars and should be stopped immediately. We hope that when the Michigan Court of Appeals hears our case tomorrow, they will stop this unnecessary recount.”

The Michigan Court of Appeals has scheduled oral arguments for 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Our earlier story: County clerks across Michigan were frantically searching for workers to begin the largest vote recount in Michigan history after a federal judge ruled late Sunday that Green Party candidate Jill Stein’s request for a hand-count of the 4.8 million ballots in the Nov. 8, 2016, presidential election shouldn’t be delayed until Wednesday.

The State Board of Canvassers deadlocked, 2-2, on Friday on an objection to the recount by President-elect Donald J. Trump, which meant it could go forward after a two-business-day delay — the focus of Stein’s lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith ruled the recount “shall and must continue until further order of this court.”

“Defendants shall instruct all governmental units participating in the recount to assemble necessary staff to work sufficient hours to assure that the recount is completed in time to comply with the ‘safe harbor'’provision” of federal election law, the judge wrote. That provision requires that the vote total for the Electoral College be finalized by Dec. 13.

The Electoral College meets Dec. 19 to finalize the presidential vote.

Goldsmith, who was appointed to the bench by President Barack Obama, said he was persuaded to order the recount to begin immediately after State Director of Elections Chris Thomas said finishing the recount in that timeframe is “doable but difficult.” Mark Brewer, Stein’s attorney in Michigan, testified it would be “highly doubtful” the count be finished in time to meet the deadline if election employees waited until Wednesday to start it.

“Such uncertainty shows that there is a credible threat to the voters’ right to have a determination made that Michigan’s vote for president was properly tabulated,” Goldsmith wrote.

State Republican Party chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel said party leaders are “outraged” by the decision and will “vigorously pursue any and all options available to us to overturn this ruling and to end this recount.”

“We are outraged that Jill Stein is trying to use the courts to change the outcome of the Michigan election. Michigan had a fair and legal election, and all votes were counted and certified by the Board of Canvassers,” McDaniel said in a statement. “Jill Stein does not have any proof of tampering or fraud and has said she does not expect the outcome of the election to change.

“Michigan law is very clear on our statutory right to object and the timeline that follows. We are exploring every possible avenue available to us and still believe that this recount is an incredible waste of Michigan taxpayers' money. This judicial opinion throws our process into chaos when our law provides for an orderly procedure.”

Clerks in both Oakland and Ingham counties had expected to start the recount Friday until Trump’s campaign challenged it, triggering the Board of Canvassers vote and the waiting period. Now, recounts in both counties will begin Monday, according to the Detroit Free Press. In Macomb County, the recount will begin about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The recounts could still be derailed. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette has filed an emergency motion with the Michigan Supreme Court to bypass the Court of Appeals in his bid to stop the recount.

Stein requested recounts in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania after a prominent group of election attorneys and computer scientists, including University of Michigan computer science professor J. Alex Halderman, claimed to have uncovered “persuasive evidence” that the election results in the three battleground states could have been hacked.

Trump defeated Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton by slim margins in the three states, In Michigan, Trump’s cushion was only 10,704 votes, and Stein has raised questions about 75,000 ballots, mostly concentrated in Detroit, that showed no vote for president.

Stein said Sunday on Fox News that number is “sky high compared to all other past elections.”

“That's 75,000 votes which may very well be machine error or human error. That is about seven times the margin of difference in Michigan. So these results could, in fact, change the outcome, but we don't know that until we actually examine the evidence. That means a hand recount of the ballots,” Stein said.

Photo by Mark Goebel via Flickr Commons