SOURCE:
HOTAIRURL:
http://hotair.com/archives/2016/12/02/breaking-michigan-ag-files-suit-to-block-stein-recount/by Ed Morrissey
Maybe Hillary Clinton won’t need those recount volunteers in Michigan after all. Attorney General Bill Schuette has filed a lawsuit to block the recount demand, challenging Jill Stein’s standing and pointing out that the Green Party nominee had provided no evidence of any irregularities that would require the state to spend the money and risk missing the Electoral College:
“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,” Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, a Republican, 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.”
Schuette’s lawsuit, filed on behalf of the state, asks the Michigan Board of Canvassers to reject Stein’s recount request on the grounds that Stein has acknowledged she has no evidence that fraud or widespread errors were committed.
The Board of Canvassers had already postponed its planned start to the process. Yesterday afternoon, Donald Trump’s campaign filed an objection challenging the recount application. It called Stein’s effort “lawless, insulting,” but also noted that her notarized application had significant errors and omissions:
Saying that Michigan should not grant “this lawless, insulting request,” the campaign of President-elect Donald Trump filed an objection Thursday afternoon to a request to recount nearly 4.8 million votes cast for President in Michigan.
Michigan’s “voters should not risk having the Electoral College door knocked off its hinges all because a 1% candidate is dissatisfied with the election’s outcome,” the objection stated. “Given her tiny vote total, (Green Party presidential candidate Jill) Stein does not and could not possibly allege a good faith belief that she may have won the state of Michigan.” …
The filing also said the recount request was not properly notarized, making it improper to move forward with the tally.
The notarized document does not state that Stein “personally appeared,” as required, and it does not list the identification that the notary would have used to assure that Stein signed the document in his/her presence. That’s a technicality but an important one; states require notaries on such forms for precisely that purpose.
The Trump team’s complaint also attacks Stein head-on for arrogance, noting that she can hardly qualify as an “aggrieved” party in an election where she got a tiny fraction of the vote:
The complaint goes on to cite a state Supreme Court ruling that interpreted “aggrieved” to mean “suffered a concrete and particularized injury,” and not merely disappointment or evidence-free allegations of irregularities that would do nothing to change one’s status. In other words, the only entity who could demand a recount in this case would be Hillary Clinton, not Jill Stein.
The Detroit Free Press is also reporting that the state legislature plans to change the law on recounts to force candidates to foot its entire bill when the state doesn’t have to conduct a compulsory recount. They plan to make that regulation retroactive in order to force Stein to pay the entire $12 million estimated cost of a statewide recount, so that Michigan taxpayers don’t have to pay for Stein’s fantasies.
The Board of Canvassers are probably not enthusiastic about Stein’s project anyway. If the AG and the Trump campaign — and Stein’s own sloppiness — offer them a way out, they’ll probably take it, or perhaps just do a recanvass and leave it at that.
