>I told my readers at the end of Dueling rulings mean Michigan recount continues for now "All parties involved (pun intended) will be back in the same federal court that ordered the recount to begin on Monday to argue their cases. Stay tuned." That happened and WOOD-TV reported the result was Federal judge agrees to end Michigan recount after 3 days.
A federal judge who ordered Michigan to start a second look at presidential votes has dropped his decision, effectively ending the recount.Well, phooey. I was hoping to see it finished, although I worried that the party might end prematurely. Still, it served its purpose, as the Detroit Free Press as reprinted in USA Today passed along the following from Jill Stein's campaign.
But attorneys for Stein argued the recount must continue, stressing that thus far it has shown numerous voting problems across the state, particularly in Detroit, where more than half of the precincts' ballots cannot be recounted due to problems that have not been disclosed. They also argued that Stein is an aggrieved party if she participated in an election that was plagued with mistakes or fraud. And the voters of Michigan have a right to know that, too, they said.It also got some people's votes counted properly, as the Detroit Free Press reported in Clinton gains 65 votes in Ingham County recount.
"There is no way of knowing whether fraud occurred without conducting the recount," Stein's attorney, Hayley Horowitz, told Goldsmith during the hearing, arguing it is "way to early" to know if fraud was an issue.
After the hearing, Stein told the Detroit Free Press that so far, the recount appears to be exposing problems with Michigan's election process, particularly in low-income, minority communities.
"It is revealing some really troubling aspects of how elections are run here," Horowitz said of the recount. "We think that's part of the reason the recount should continue — to continue revealing those problems so that the people of Michigan can see how their election operates."
Ingham County completed its presidential election recount Wednesday, with Hillary Clinton gaining a net increase of 65 votes over President-elect Donald Trump.Only 23 of 208 precincts in Ingham County were not recountable. Meanwhile, Oakland County also finished its recount of Election Day ballots and was working its way through absentee ballots when the order to stop came down. It found only 26 of 520 precincts not recountable. Both of those are more acceptable than potentially one-third of Wayne County's precincts. As I wrote, both Barb Byrum, Ingham County Clerk, and Lisa Brown, Oakland County Clerk, run tight ships, and I'd support either one for Secretary of State in 2018, especially over Janice Winfrey, the Detroit City Clerk, and Cathy M. Garrett, the Wayne County Clerk.
Clinton’s vote total increased by 138 in Ingham County, while Trump gained 73 more votes than were recorded on Election Night, according to the county’s recount report.
Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate who requested Michigan’s statewide recount, lost two votes in Ingham County in the recount. Libertarian Gary Johnson gained two votes, according to the report.
Since I started this week with a song, I'll end it with one, Peggy Lee - The Party's Over.
Regular programming resumes tomorrow. I might have something on the Michigan Legislature's lame duck session, Al Gore meeting with Donald Trump about climate change, or I might start writing about entertainment awards early. It depends on how I feel and what material is available. Stay tuned.
How can they say for sure that Stein only got 1% if they don't do the recount?
ReplyDeleteCan't be Al Gore was too influential on Trump's climate change stance considering the EPA pick. It's a shame, I really liked this planet.
I'll get around to Trump's "Legion of Doom" cabinet in a couple weeks when I'm done with the semester and have more time to write lengthy posts. Until then I'm going to write entries that don't require a lot of original writing from me.
DeleteSpeaking of which, tomorrow's post looks like it won't be any of the ones I suggested. Instead, it will be a video tribute to John Glenn. While I post a lot about politics and entertainment lately, this was originally a science, technology, and environment blog and one of the recurring topics has been space exploration and the fear that it might go away. Senator Glenn's death fits right into those themes.
The recount, or rather, the fact that it was aborted (hey, finally an abortion Republicans support), will also serve a purpose in casting a further shadow over Trump's legitimacy. We'll never know for sure whether he legitimately won the state. The fact that the Republicans fought so hard to stop all the recounts suggests that they have something to hide. Now, at least in Michigan's case, we won't know.
ReplyDeleteI maybe wrong, but wasn't Gore's meeting with Trump after the EPA pick, not before? Don't forget Ivanka, too. She's something of a climate advocate.
The disconnect between Trump's post-election moderate statements and the collection of crazies he's putting in his cabinet makes me wonder if he's picking people on the advice of Republicans around him, without knowing much about the people. He's already suggested he doesn't know Bannon is alt-right, which is mind-boggling.
You aren't the only one to think that about the Republican reaction. When I posted links to earlier posts about the recount, along with later news articles like the ones I quoted, to the Coffee Party USA Facebook page, several people wrote exactly that. So did Jack Lessenberry, a journalism professor at Wayne State University who also writes for the Toledo Blade and Michigan Radio.
DeleteNo, the EPA pick was announced after Gore's visit. I also won't forget to pay attention to Ivanka when I write about the administration's climate policy or lack thereof.
"[H]e doesn't know Bannon is alt-right, which is mind-boggling" -- maybe he still doesn't know what alt-right really is, which is also mind-boggling.