Supporters of Republican President-elect Donald Trump filed a federal lawsuit Friday to stop a recount of the presidential vote in Wisconsin. The challenge was brought in federal court in Madison Friday by the Great America PAC and Stop Hillary PAC.
According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the lawsuit contends, among other things, that the state’s recount process is unconstitutional because ballots aren’t treated equally in all cases — a standard established in the 2000 U.S. Supreme Court case that halted a recount in Florida. The Suit also argues that the recount runs the risk of preventing Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes from being counted. We have reported about that here. State elections officials have said they’re committed to finishing the recount by a federal Dec. 13 deadline to ensure that doesn’t happen.
The recount began Thursday after Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein — who only received about 1 percent of the vote — paid $3.5 million to force the state to recount nearly three million presidential votes across Wisconsin.
It’s considered highly unlikely, that the recount could change the outcome.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission tweeted Friday that local clerks and canvassing boards should keep up their race to finish the recount;
Recount will continue unless a judge orders otherwise. Keep counting!
— Wisconsin Elections (@WI_Elections) December 2, 2016
Gov. Scott Walker said he would consider limiting the ability of candidates to ask for recounts in Wisconsin:
“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 said of Stein, who finished behind Trump, Clinton and Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson.
“I think we should call it for what it is and really it’s just a fundraising scheme for the Green Party,” Walker told reporters. “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.”
State law presently allows any candidate to request a recount, but he or she must pay for it if the loss is more than 0.25% of the vote. Walker did not provide specifics on what kind of changes to the law he would consider.
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