Trump allies move to halt Rust Belt States vote recounts
CHICAGO: Allies of Presidentelect Donald Trump moved on Friday to block impending election recounts in three Rust Belt States – Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania – that were crucial to his election victory.
Three separate moves, by lawyers for Trump, his supporters, and a top law enforcement official, aim to stop a recount drive spearheaded by Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein – and now supported by Hillary Clinton’s campaign.
While few expect any change in the vote outcome, the presidentelect has railed angrily against the recount efforts as “ridiculous” and “a waste of time.”
Trump won the first two states with slim margins, besting Democrat Hillary Clinton by about 27,000 votes in Wisconsin and 10,700 votes in Michigan. He won Pennsylvania by more than 67,000 votes.
Stein has asked all three states, which reliably voted Democratic in previous presidential elections, to conduct recounts, even though she received about one percent or less of the vote in each.
In Pennsylvania, where she is seeking a partial recount, lawyers for Trump asked the court Friday to deny her request.
“Even with heroic efforts by state and local elections officials involved in the recounts, as well as expeditious review by this Court, Stein’s proposed process will last weeks, perhaps even months,” they said in a court filing.
“Her request puts Pennsylvania at grave risk of having not certified its Presidential Electors by December 13, the deadline for doing so,” six days before the electoral college formally elects the president.
Similar legal efforts were launched Friday in Wisconsin and Michigan, where state attorney general Bill Schuette, a Republican, filed a lawsuit to stop a scheduled recount, saying Stein received far too few votes to legitimize one.
“Michigan voters rejected Stein’s candidacy by massive margins but her refusal to accept that state-verified result poses an expensive and risky threat to hard-working taxpayers and abuses the intent of Michigan law,” Schuette said in a statement.
In Wisconsin, voter Ronald R. Johnson and two political action committees supporting Trump – Great America PAC and Stop Hillary PAC – asked a federal judge to halt the recount that began Thursday. In a court filing, they called the process a “sham.”
“There is no prospect that the recount will change the outcome of the election with result to Stein. At best, this is nothing more than a fundraising stunt for her,” the filing said.
Stein was undeterred. She called the Michigan effort by Schuette “politically motivated,” and her lead counsel Matthew Brinckerhoff said their push for a Wisconsin recount would continue.