Jill Stein's Presidential Recount Goes To Federal Court, Calls PA Voting System 'National Disgrace'

A federal judge has set a date for a hearing on Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein's lawsuit that is calling for a presidential election recount in Pennsylvania, according to the Philly Voice.

The outlet reports U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond scheduled the hearing for 1:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 9.

Lawyers from Stein's camp as well as President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence will argue over Steins recount request, according to the Philly Voice

Stein's camp filed a 19-page lawsuit Monday that claims the state violated the Constitution through its election system, with the suit calling PA's system a "national disgrace," citing First and 14th amendment violations.

On Sunday, Stein's camp said it was going to "escalate" the recount campaign in the Keystone state after reportedly dropping a recount petition due to lacking funds needed for the effort.

"We are committed to this fight to protect the civil and voting rights of all Americans," Jonathan Abady, lead counsel to the Stein recount efforts, said in a statement. "Over the past several days, it has become clear that the barriers to verifying the vote in Pennsylvania are so pervasive and that the state court system is so ill-equipped to address this problem that we must seek federal court intervention."

Stein's campaign intends to continue its county-by-county recount effort in Pennsylvania, which requires efforts in individual precincts and requires three voters to successfully petition their local election boards.

Indeed, an official recount of 75 Philadelphia voting divisions began Friday afternoon, and Trump's statewide lead dropped by about 30,000 votes after some discrepancies were revealed in Pennsylvania, shrinking his margin from 1.1 percent to 0.8 percent. A margin of 0.5 would trigger an automatic statewide recount.

Stein held a "recount rally" Monday morning outside Trump Tower in New York City where she spoke about the recount effort.

Watch a video of statements from Jill Stein and Green Party Attorney Ilann Maazel regarding the recount efforts below:

Image via Gage Skidmore, Wikimedia Commons