Pennsylvania Recount Expands as Friday Hearing Looms

The drama of the 2016 election continues in Pennsylvania as a recount of the presidential vote tally in Chester County has been ordered by the county's Board of Elections in most precincts.

According to the Daily Local News, the order came Thursday to recount ballots in 143 of the county's 228 precincts. The recount effort was pushed by supporters of Green Party candidate Jill Stein.

The vote to recount was reportedly unanimous. According to Pennsylvania law, a county must conduct a recount if at least three people in a precinct request one.

“This is crazy,” Chester County Commissioner Michele Kichline told the Daily Local. “This isn’t going to change the results of the election. It is very frustrating for me to have to put everybody through this. But it is what it is. We follow the law.”

While the decision in Chester County marks a success for Stein's camp, recount advocates have turned to federal court to file a lawsuit to call for a recount across the entire state. The hearing is set for Friday, December 9 at 1:30 p.m. before U.S. District Judge Paul S. Diamond.

Stein has been deeply critical of the state's election process, calling the system a "national disgrace" and citing numerous issues, ranging from lack of security to insufficient backup. She claims Pennsylvania's election violated both the First and the 14th Amendment.

Stein has zeroed in specifically on Philadelphia, claiming the city's machines need to undergo a thorough vetting process.

"A forensic analysis of voting machines and their software is the only way to guarantee the accuracy of election results in Philadelphia," she said in a Twitter post Wednesday.

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.

Stein has also focused efforts in Allegheny County, alleging that the Board of Elections there denied her request to inspect voting machines. The county is set to certify their election results on Dec. 12.

Donald Trump won Pennsylvania by a count of 2,912,941 to Hillary Clinton's 2,844,705. However, Clinton soundly defeated Trump in Chester County, 141,694 to Trump's 116,147. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson won 7,924 votes in the county, while Stein won 2,253.

Voter turnout was up significantly in 2016 within Chester County. Some 272,580 voters, or 76.90 percent, hit the polls this year, compared to 253,009, 74.8 percent, during the 2012 presidential election.

Patch file photo