The Green Party’s 2016 presidential candidate Jill Stein could not have requested a recount in Michigan under legislation a committee advanced Thursday to the full House for a possible vote. The House Elections and Ethics Committee approved a bill sponsored by the panel’s chairman, Rep. Aaron Miller, R-Sturgis, that would require “aggrieved candidates” to show that they could have won the election if not for fraud or error. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to initiate a recount, as Stein did after Republican Donald Trump won Michigan last November by 10,704 votes over Democrat Hillary Clinton. “The ridiculous 2016 recount charade for which Michigan taxpayers were forced to foot the bill shows just how important it is to update our statutes before it happens again,” Miller said in a statement. “These bills protect tax dollars while still preserving the integrity of the recount process for instances in which it is truly necessary.”
State law required Stein to pay $973,250 for the massive recount, all performed by hand. It cost $125 per physical and absentee ballot precinct, but Secretary of State Ruth Johnson’s office estimated the actual cost for the state and local clerks could approach at least $5 million.
Stein requested the recount citing concern about revelations of Russian election interference and hackers targeting election systems in 20 states.
The Michigan Court of Appeals held that the state should have never begun a recount because Steinh was not an “aggrieved candidate,” meaning that “the candidate must be able to allege a good faith belief that but for mistake or fraud, the candidate would have had reasonable chance of winning the election.”
Full Article: House panel OKs new rules after Stein’s halted recount.