USA under presidency of a know-nothing, neo-fascist, racist, sexist, mobbed-up narcissist!!

[Peter Lemkin]

WhoWhatWhy's Ongoing Recount Roundup

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As the country really, the world looks on, developments regarding the US presidential election recount efforts remain fluid. In three key states, judges are ruling on whether and how the process should be allowed to proceed, and county officials are gearing up for scrutiny.
In this space, WhoWhatWhy will offer a roundup of the latest reports. Here is a look at relevant stories from around the Web related to our ongoing "Election Audit" coverage.

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PENNSYLVANIA

Officials Allegedly Price-Gouging Voters Seeking Affidavits

Sunday, 12/4

According to Palmer Report, election workers in Bushkill Township Center, Northampton County, were caught gouging voters attempting to fill out affidavits in support of the recount effort.
The site confirmed the identity of Beverly DeSignor, a resident of Bushkill, Pennsylvania, and published her first-hand account where she witnessed a remarkable increase in the fee to file for the visitor after her.
"The sudden change in protocol on the part of county officials, from one group of citizens to the next, appears to represent an escalating attempt on the part of the officials to make it harder for the public to carry out their right to a recount," Palmer Report wrote. "Prices don't simply change from 25 cents to $150 per person within a span of minutes."
The site acknowledged that DeSignor has heard from Jill Stein's campaign regarding the incident.

MICHIGAN

Judge Skeptical of Ordering Immediate Recount

Sunday, 12/4, 12:53 p.m.

A federal judge was asking skeptical questions Sunday about Green Party candidate Jill Stein's request to order the immediate start of a presidential recount in Michigan.
U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith asked Stein attorney Mark Brewer to explain what the harm is in waiting until Wednesday, as planned, especially after Brewer conceded that the recount could still likely be completed by Dec. 13 if started Wednesday, though it would take more money and resources.
To get a court order, Stein must show she will suffer "irreparable harm" if the recount doesn't start immediately. Lawyers for the Michigan Republican Party argued that there can be no irreparable harm, if the recount can still get done with a Wednesday start.

Jill Stein Takes to Facebook Live

Saturday, 12/3, 11:51 p.m.

Former Green Party candidate Jill Stein spoke to the American people directly Saturday night, broadcasting live on Facebook and offering the status of her team's initiative in three key states.
"The process allows for many ways that we can ensure that we can verify this vote, Stein said. "That is the process that we have proceeded with in each of these three states.
Jill Stein speaking on Facebook Live. Photo credit: Jill Stein / Facebook.

"It's very interesting that Donald Trump and his allies have moved to block our way to assure that this is a valid and reliable election result. … During the campaign, as you may know, Donald Trump raised this issue in a very big way, saying that the election was rigged. Well, many people resonated with that concern. Now we are proceeding to clarify, one way or the other."
Stein reiterated her position that the main goal is to force hand recounts in these states rather than a machine recount.
"If you just simply take the ballots and put them back into the same optical scanners, you run the same risk of getting the same errors again," Stein said. "We want a hand count.
"There were 17 or so districts that were just going to do machine counts, but now the vast majority of them have moved over and now they're all doing hand counts. So a big shout out to the boards of election for standing up to do the right thing."
In the case of Michigan, Stein said her legal team has filed a lawsuit to try to push back on Attorney General Bill Schuette's initiative to get the state's Supreme Court to halt the hand recount there, altogether.
"The attorney general (for the state of Michigan), filed a lawsuit against his own departments of election to try to stop the recount from going through," Stein said. "The board of election had already approved the recount by hand, which was supposed to have started by Friday (Dec. 2). This ally of Donald Trump, the Attorney General Bill Schuette, filed to stop this grassroots campaign for democracy. It's actually really quite astounding that they did that."
Stein acknowledged that her supporters attempting to force a statewide recount in Pennsylvania were required by a state court to pay approximately a $1 million bond, and have had to abandon their suit.
"(These are) average citizens just standing up for the democracy we deserve," Stein said. "That 100 citizens have to jump through these hoops in order to file for their right to go to court, statewide, and then they're told they have to pay $1 million. It's really pretty mind boggling.
"So, we will be announcing on Monday steps we're going to take in order to keep this case moving forward."
Stein clarified that select recount efforts at the precinct level are still proceeding.
"However, in Pennsylvania, these are all electronic machines with no paper trail," Stein said. "We are going to need to look at these machines, to go and look under the hood and ensure that they have not been tampered with, they don't have programming errors, and that they have counted the vote correctly."

PENNSYLVANIA

Stein Team Vows to Bring Recount Bid to Federal Court

Sunday, 12/4, 3:53 a.m.

An attorney for Green Party candidate Jill Stein said late Saturday evening that the campaign would bring its effort to launch a Pennsylvania recount to federal court.
Earlier in the day, the recount effort appeared to be scuttled by a $1 million bond requirement handed down by the state's Commonwealth Court. That court had scheduled a 10 a.m. hearing in the case that's now been canceled.
"Make no mistake the Stein campaign will continue to fight for a statewide recount in Pennsylvania," said Jonathan Abady, who's leading Stein's recount efforts, in a written statement. "We are committed to this fight to protect the civil and voting rights of all Americans."
Abady said the campaign would file for emergency relief in federal court on Monday, "on constitutional grounds."
Individual recount efforts continue at the precinct level throughout the state.

PENNSYLVANIA

Greens Drop Statewide Recount Suit

Saturday, 7:30 p.m.

Multiple news outlets are now reporting that Jill Stein's effort for a statewide recount are over after her supporters dropped a court case on the initiative Saturday night.
However, her team will continue to force select recounts and analyze election software in targeted precincts across the Keystone State.
According to the filing, Green Party-backed voters who filed the case described themselves as "regular citizens of ordinary means," and cited the obstacle of submitting the $1 million bond ordered by the court by Monday's 5 p.m. deadline.

MICHIGAN

Stein Supporters Sue to Speed up Recount

Saturday, 12/3, 9:12 a.m.

Supporters of former Green Party candidate Jill Stein filed suit in federal court late Friday to allow the recount to begin immediately.
Under state law, the recount cannot start until two business days after the court ruling allowing it to begin. That ruling was delayed by a Trump campaign objection to the recount, which had to be heard on Friday morning. The four-member Board of State Canvassers who heard the Trump complaint were deadlocked, splitting along party lines.
Stein claims the delay is unreasonable and violates equal protection and due process rights guaranteed under the Constitution.
Stalling until Wednesday would be "effectively denying the right to vote" if the recount is not completed in time to meet the federal deadline of December 13.
The Stein group's case has been assigned to US District Judge Mark Goldsmith, who was appointed by President Barack Obama.

FLORIDA

Recount Suit Filed at Deadline

Saturday, 12/3, AM

Late Friday, the attorney for the nonprofit, Protect Our Elections, announced that he has officially contested the certification of Donald Trump as winner of the Florida election, creating at least some possibility that a Florida recount may happen.
Clint Curtis announced via his official Facebook page that he has filed the election complaint on behalf of the group.
DS-200 optical scanner. Photo credit: Verified Voting Foundation, Inc.

The infamous DS-200 optical scan machine is used in many parts of the state. Also, affidavits are being gathered from voters who claim they were illegally turned away from the polls. County election officials are reporting that thousands of absentee ballots were requested but never sent out in Broward County alone.
The suit names Donald Trump, his running mate Mike Pence, Florida Governor Rick Scott and Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi as defendants, among many others. It lists over a hundred examples of irregularities during the voting process this year.
View the official complaint here, in PDF format.

WISCONSIN

Machines With Tampered Seals Alleged

Saturday, 12/3

Jill Stein's official website has posted pictures suggesting some voting machines in St. Croix County had broken seals. Provided by an elections observer identified only as "Wendy," the images have gained notable traction on sites such as PalmerReport and DailyKos.
No detail is provided on when and where the images were actually taken. Further, as Snopes detailed Saturday afternoon, the machines don't appear to match those listed by the Wisconsin Elections Commission website (PDF).
"Wendy's" photos show machines made by ES&S iVotronics, while the WEC site shows all St. Croix County sites using machines made by Dominion/Command Central-Edge.
Until more context emerges on when those images were taken, where, and who provided them, the allegation should be viewed with considerable suspicion.

WISCONSIN, PENNSYLVANIA, MICHIGAN

Trump Supporters Turn Up Pressure for Recount Obstruction

Friday, 12/2, 6:00 p.m.

In a surprise to precisely no one, President-elect Donald Trump's supporters went to court in all three states Friday, determined to prevent, halt or stall ongoing election recount efforts.
With less than two weeks before the states would have to complete the tasks to meet a federal deadline to certify their election results, the tactic of stalling leaves the efforts in jeopardy.
In Wisconsin, U.S. District Judge James Peterson rejected a request to immediately halt the recount, insisting there was no harm in letting it to continue while the court considers the lawsuit, which will be heard on Dec. 9.

PENNSYLVANIA

Philadelphia Launches Voluntary Recount

Friday, 12/2, 6:00 p.m.

Philadelphia is not waiting to see if Donald Trump gets his way and halts the Pennsylvania recount efforts. The city began conducting a voluntary recount after finding considerable discrepancies in voting totals there.
A revision in totals the past two days have resulted in Trump's statewide margin over Hillary Clinton reduced from over 71,000 votes to approximately 49,000.
Out of 6 million votes cast, the recounted tallies put Trump's lead at 0.8 percent. State law would have required an automatic recount if the lead was within 0.5 percent. Trump's margin of victory appears to be shrinking as more counties record their final tallies.

MICHIGAN

State's AG Sues to Halt Recount Effort

Friday, Dec. 2, 9:54 a.m.

The Donald Trump campaign's objection hearing before the Board of Canvassers on Friday morning was sent to recess right from the opening bell when news broke that Michigan's attorney general, Republican Bill Schuette, is filing a lawsuit asking the state's Supreme Court to halt the recount, altogether.
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette. Photo credit: Aaronjbaylis / Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0).

"Michigan voters rejected (Jill) 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 release.
"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."
Secretary of State Ruth Johnson estimated the recount cost at $5 million earlier this week, considerably more than the $973,250 check Stein submitted to the state Bureau of Elections. Still, Stein has since responded by promising to work with the state to cover the difference.
Schuette is expected to run for governor in 2018.
Trump's attorneys were set to argue on the grounds that 1) Stein is a fourth-place finisher, thus not entitled to petition for a recount, 2) there isn't time to complete a recount by the Dec. 13 deadline, and 3) her petition is technically deficient because it was not properly signed and sworn.
Mark Brewer, a Stein attorney and former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, countered that Stein does not have to prove she was aggrieved, and has every right to petition for a recount.
"I would remind everybody that the original source of the claim that this election was rigged was Mr. Trump," and a manual recount could also dispel his allegations, Brewer told the Detroit Free Press.

WISCONSIN

Gov. Walker Considers Change to Recount Law

Friday, Dec. 2, 9:25 a.m.

Citing Jill Stein's fourth-place finish in his state, Gov. Scott Walker said Friday he would look into limiting the ability of candidates to ask for recounts.
"I think a lot of people no matter where they sit on the political spectrum kind of scratch their head on why someone would ask for a recount when they came in fourth," Walker, a Republican, told reporters in Madison.
"I think we should call it for what it is and really it's just a fundraising scheme for the Green Party. It's perfectly legal. It's their right to do that. They're paying for it. The taxpayer's not paying for it. The only real concern I have is that for a lot of these clerks, local clerks, they're already busy."

MINNESOTA

Republican's Recount Request Begins Monday

Thursday, 12/1, 10 p.m.

A Republican has initiated a recount, set for Monday, for Minnesota's 8th District race.
GOP challenger Stewart Mills lost to U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan in the Nov. 8 election by 2,009 votes among the nearly 357,000 cast. The Mills campaign has to pay for it, because the 0.58% margin is just short of the 0.50% required.
"This will be not quite 13 years for me in this position and this will be our fifth recount," said St. Louis County auditor Donald Dicklich, citing the 2010 gubernatorial recount that confirmed Mark Dayton's election over Tom Emmer and the 2008 US Senate recount that reversed Norm Coleman's election over Al Franken, giving Franken the seat.

MICHIGAN

Trump campaign files recount objection

Thursday, Dec. 1, 5:23 p.m.

The Detroit Free Press is reporting that the campaign for Donald Trump has effectively shut down recount efforts in the state, at least until next week, after filing a recount objection.
The Trump campaign called the recount effort "lawless and insulting," and insisted "Stein does not and could not possibly allege a good faith belief that she may have won the state of Michigan."
Apparently, the Trump team wants people to believe the effort is all about a Stein victory.
Meanwhile, a Stein attorney reminded officials the law is clear: any candidate has a right to request a recount.
The state's Board of Canvassers will convene Friday morning to rule on the issue, but state law requires a two-day delay afterward. The delay means that crucial work scheduled for this weekend will not happen.
With a Dec. 13 deadline for completing the hand recount of 4.8 million votes, the time available to finish in time is razor-thin.

PENNSYLVANIA

With Philadelphia complete, Trump's lead down to 46,000

Thursday, Dec. 1, 1:43 p.m.

On election night, CNN had Pennsylvania in the Donald Trump column by a margin of over 67,000 votes. Almost three weeks later, with the City of Philadelphia finally finished counting votes, including absentee and provisional ballots, the margin was down to 46,000. Nearly 5 million people voted in the state.
While that creates a difference of about 0.8%, the state requires a margin of less than 0.5% or 30,000 votes to force an automatic recount. Attorneys for Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein will appear in court on Monday to argue for a statewide recount.
Nearly 46,000 Keystone State Democrats switched their registration to Republican early this year, in what was termed the "ditch and switch" movement for Trump.
It is interesting to note that Stein received 49,776 votes in Pennsylvania.

MICHIGAN

Trump Campaign Staffer Convicted of Election Fraud

11/30, 1:54 p.m.

In Michigan, a Donald Trump campaign staffer was convicted on all 10 counts of felony election fraud stemming from a judicial race in 2012. Brandon Hall, 27, forged signatures on petitions in an effort to get candidate Chris Houghtaling on the ballot.
Donald Trump and Brandon Hall (inset) Photo credit: Dario Steckley / Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) and hallforhouse / YouTube.

The ruling could not come at a less opportune time for Trump, with his people and the GOP arguing against the merits of former Green Party candidate Jill Stein's ongoing recount efforts.
In June, Hall's legal team argued that the charges should be misdemeanors, and the case reached the state's supreme court. That didn't go so well.
Trump's Michigan campaign team hired him anyway.
"Donald Trump has made claim after claim calling the integrity of the election into question, but his Michigan campaign had no problem hiring a staff member facing election law charges," Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan, told the Grand Haven Tribune on Wednesday.
"The fact that the Trump campaign and the Michigan Republican Party embraced Brandon Hall is just one more reason to recount and audit the vote in Michigan."
Here is Hall's blog, dormant since Oct. 28. Seems he's been busy.

ALSO IN MICHIGAN

Wed 11/30, 2:30 p.m.

Stein followed through and filed her request for a hand recount, citing blank votes. The undertaking will begin Friday, examining 4.8 million votes that originally yielded a 10,000-vote victory for Trump.

Thur. 12/1, 12:10 a.m

With the recount there set to begin Friday, one state official sees the cost as being largely on the shoulders of Michigan taxpayers. Secretary of State Ruth Johnson estimates the bill across 6,300 precincts at $5 million, considerably more than the $973,250 check Stein submitted to the state Bureau of Elections. Stein's attorney responded that her client will work with the state to cover the additional cost.

Wed. 11/30,7 p.m.

One veteran election attorney, well-versed in recounts, details what must happen to get the effort done by Dec. 13. The state will need "all hands on deck. … It's got to be a very efficiently run process because you've got 83 counties and … 4.8 million votes," Melvin Hollowell told Michigan Radio. Can it be completed in time? "It all depends on whether there is a lot of challenges or not."

WISCONSIN

Wed. 11/30, 5:05 p.m.

Counting absentee ballots at Waukesha Administration Center, Waukesha, WI. Photo credit: Michael Bacos for WhoWhatWhy

A district county judge rejected former Green Party candidate Jill Stein's lawsuit demanding a hand recount. Dane County Circuit Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn ruled that Wisconsin's 72 county clerks can decide for themselves how they want to conduct their recount procedure. Stein will not appeal the decision, and the recount will begin today. "It's (the counties') decision," Bailey-Rihn said. "It's their discretion. I may disagree with it, but I must follow the law."

Wed. 11/30, 4 p.m.

The Journal-Sentinel, the state's biggest newspaper, also slammed Stein's "vanity project" in a Wednesday editorial, calling the recount "a colossal waste of money and energy when there is not a shred of credible evidence of fraud or error."

Thur., 12/1, 9:53 a.m.

State Republicans have filed a federal elections complaint against both Stein and Democrat Hillary Clinton, who supported the recount suit. "Clinton stands as the only actor that would benefit from a recount taking place in Wisconsin or elsewhere," the complaint reads. "As outlined below, the Clinton campaign's direct involvement in the recount process, which was announced well before the recount itself was paid for and finalized, demonstrates a clear link between the actions of the Stein campaign and the strategic goals of Hillary for America."

PENNSYLVANIA

Lehigh County Courthouse, Allentown, Pennsylvania. Photo credit: Brad Clinesmith / Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0).

Thur., 12/1, 12:01 a.m.

State Republicans aim to block recount efforts in some precincts, curiously arguing that those seeking recounts were in the wrong place at the right time.

Wed., 11/30, 9:31 p.m.

A recount of votes already took place in Lehigh County on Wednesday. There, a group of observers, mobilized by Stein's campaign, gathered in the Board of Elections office in the basement of the County administration building to observe. When it was over, the totals matched those reported on election night almost exactly. The results uncovered three absentee ballots and a military ballot that had been uncounted the first time around. Clinton won the county by 6,800 votes, while Trump took the state by more than 67,000 votes.

ELSEWHERE

Stein's running mate, Ajamu Baraka, questioned publicly whether it's the wise course for the former Green Party nominee to pursue the recount. "I'm not in favor of the recount," Baraka told CNN. "It would be seen as carrying the water for the Democrats."
In Nevada, five counties are set to conduct recounts. Independent presidential candidate Roque De La Fuente paid about $14,000 for the effort. The process has to begin within five days, and must be completed within five additional days. If the results show a difference of at least 1 percent for De La Fuente or Clinton, a full state recount will be launched. Clinton won Nevada by more than 26,000 votes.