Judge Hands Stein Recount a Setback

By Dan Spencer | 2:30 PM on November 30, 2016

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Jill Stein of Lexington, Mass. announces that she will seek the presidential nomination of the Green Party during a news conference outside the Statehouse in Boston Monday, Oct. 24, 2011. Stein is proposing what she's calling a Green New Deal to end unemployment in America and jump start a recovery. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

The Associated Press reports, that Dane County Circuit Court Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn rejected Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein’s request for a hand recount. Stein “has been trying to make the case that Wisconsin’s tabulating machines could have been compromised in a cyberattack and a hand recount is the only way to tell for sure.” Judge Bailey-Rihn didn’t buy it and “concluded Stein’s attorneys failed to show any hard evidence the machines were attacked and are unreliable.”

The Wisconsin Election Commission, under state law, had to grant the request for a recount, but it refused Stein’s request that the commission order all county clerks to recount the votes by hand, leaving it up to the counties to decide how to conduct the process.

President-elect Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton by about 22,000 votes in Wisconsin. Stein — who received just 1% of the vote in Wisconsin — has demanded a recount based upon a Liberal conspiracy theory that voting machines might have been hacked. And as my colleague, Andrea Ruth reported, Hillary’s campaign has decided to join the recounts even though they have found no evidence of any hacking. That led to Kellyanne Conway, President-elect Donald Trump’s campaign manager and now a senior adviser to the president-elect, accusing Hillary of being a sore loser.

Under state law, Stein is responsible for covering the costs of the recount. The commission initially estimated the recount would cost her $3.5 million but on Tuesday revised the cost estimate to $3.9 million. The commission required Stein to pay $3.5 million Tuesday and said she would have to cover any additional costs.

According to the AP, Stein has raised $6.4 million online since last week to cover recounts in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Stein griped about Wisconsin’s costs being exorbitant but paid the money with five minutes to spare Tuesday.

Independent presidential candidate Roque De La Fuente, came to his senses and withdrew his request for a Wisconsin recount Tuesday.

The Wisconsin recount must be done by Dec. 13, or Wisconsin’s 10 Electoral Votes could be at risk.