Elections

Michigan GOP Files Appeal To Stop Election Recount

Rachel Woolf / Stringer

Daily Caller News Foundation logo
Ted Goodman Contributor
Font Size:

The Michigan Republican Party filed notice that it plans to appeal a U.S. District Court decision to start the recount Monday, arguing the effort should not be decided by the federal courts system.

“This is a Michigan issue, and should be handled by the Michigan court system,” Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ronna Romney McDaniel said in a press release.

McDaniel also asserted that Green Party candidate Jill Stein waited too long to file a recount request.

Attorneys for the Michigan GOP filed a Notice to Appeal with the Eastern District Court of Michigan Monday, with plans to eventually appeal the ruling with the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati, Ohio, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The Michigan Court of Appeals has scheduled oral arguments for Tuesday at 4 p.m., according to a press release from the Michigan GOP.

Up to one-third of the votes in Wayne County — Michigan’s largest county and home to Detroit — may not be eligible for a recount. Officials couldn’t reconcile vote totals for 610 of 1,680 precincts during a countywide canvass of vote results late last month, according to the Detroit News.

The number of ballots in precinct poll books did not match those of voting machine printout reports in 59 percent of precincts — 392 of 662 — in the heavily-Democratic county that includes most of Detroit.

Stein officially requested a recount in Michigan Nov. 30, which triggered a seven-day window for an objection. President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign objected to the recount the following day, Dec. 1. The Michigan State Board of State Canvassers rejected Trump’s objection Dec. 2. (RELATED: Michigan Certifies Election Results; Prepares For Recount)

Under Michigan law, state officials must wait two business days after hearing an objection before they can start counting, in order to allow a court review of how the state election officials ruled on the objection.

The pause would have set the recount start date for Dec. 7, but Stein’s attorneys requested an emergency hearing over the weekend. The lawyers asked a federal judge to waive the state mandated two-day waiting period and order the request begin immediately Monday. (RELATED: Fed Judge Orders Michigan Recount To Start Immediately)

The recount effort is in a race against the clock, as state election officials scramble to complete a hand recount of over 4.8 million presidential ballots. The judge ruled in Stein’s favor, starting the recount at noon Monday. The largest recount effort in the state’s history could cost taxpayers up to $12 million, according to Fox News.

Trump and the state’s Republican Attorney General, Bill Schuette have filed lawsuits with the State Court of Appeals in order to stop the recount.

In Michigan, Trump officially received 2,279,543 votes, while Clinton received 2,268,839 votes after the Election Day tally. Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson received 172,136 votes, while Stein hauled in 51,463 votes.

The recount effort garnered credibility when the director of the University of Michigan Center for Computer Security and Society, J. Alex Halderman published perceived irregularities in voting systems in key Midwestern states.

Follow Ted on Twitter

Send Tips to ted@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.