Supporters of continuing the statewide presidential ballot recount maintain the slimmest of hopes that it might resume once the Michigan Supreme Court weighs in.
A small crowd of about 45 people gathered in the plaza in front of the Michigan Hall of Justice in Lansing Thursday to call on the Supreme Court to agree to hear an appeal of a lower court decision that stopped the recount.
The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled Green Party candidate Jill Stein had no standing to ask for a recount. The court said she had no chance of coming out on top after finishing a distant fourth in Michigan, and that disqualified her.
“We’re disappointed in the decision that’s come from the court, and I’m sure the Stein campaign will fight to see this recount continue,” said Louis Novak, a Stein elector from Detroit, who also sued the state to continue the recount. The stated goal of the Stein campaign was not to change the result, but to call attention to problems with voting systems.
Ingrid Tierney, a recount volunteer in Macomb County, said the recount effort was turning up problems. “I just feel that it’s necessary to recount because there’s so many districts that are uncountable, and especially in Democrat areas like Wayne and Genesee counties,” she said. Tierney says she thinks the problems have more to do with old voting machines than tampering.
In addition to the appeal, the Stein campaign asked Republican justices Robert Young and Joan Larsen to step away from making decisions related to the case. The filing says they have a conflict of interest because both are on President-elect Donald Trump’s list of potential US Supreme Court nominees. Without the two justices, Republicans would still have a 3-2 edge over Democrats on the court.
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— Rick Pluta is the Managing Editor and Reporter for the Michigan Public Radio network. Contact WEMU News at734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org
