Michigan’s attorney general has asked the state Supreme Court to block a potential recount of the state’s presidential vote, which was won by his fellow Republican, Donald Trump.
Attorney General Bill Schuette argued that Green Party candidate Jill Stein cannot seek the recount because she was not “aggrieved” to the point at which a potential miscounting of votes could have cost her the election. Stein only received about 1 percent of Michigan’s vote.
“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,” he said. “We have asked the court to end the recount which Stein is pursuing in violation of Michigan laws that protect the integrity of our elections. It is inexcusable for Stein to put Michigan voters at risk of paying millions and potentially losing their voice in the Electoral College in the process.”
The filing Friday delayed the start of a state election board meeting to consider Trump’s request to block the hand recount of all 4.8 million ballots cast in Michigan. Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in Michigan by 10,700 votes.
A recount is already underway in Wisconsin and Stein is pushing for a statewide recount in Pennsylvania. Both states were considered crucial battleground states, which Trump won.
“Jill Stein received fewer than 52,000 of the more than 4.7 million votes cast in Michigan’s election for President, yet she now alleges that she is an ‘aggrieved’ candidate and demands a recount that has no possibility of changing the result of that election,” the lawsuit stated.
It added: “Although Stein had the ability to request a recount from the moment the polls closed on November 9, 2016, she waited an additional three weeks—until the last possible minute under Michigan law—to do so. And she demanded a hand recount, a process that cannot possibly be completed in time for Michigan to guarantee that its votes will be counted in the Electoral College, and a process that will cost Michigan taxpayers millions of dollars.”
Clinton’s team announced they would be joining in the recount efforts last weekend.
As of Friday afternoon, his motion is still pending.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
