Posted on 11/29/2016 6:49:51 PM PST by drewh
MADISON, Wis. (WBAY) – A Dane County judge has knocked down Jill Stein’s request to conduct Wisconsin’s recount exclusively by hand to rule out any electronic tampering with the results.
Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn said Stein’s experts couldn’t present “clear and convincing evidence” that Wisconsin voting equipment was compromised, only that it was possible.
“A hand recount is the gold standard, it’s the best we can do. I don’t think there’s any dispute to that,” the judge said, and she noted there’s no difference in cost to taxpayers since the campaign pays for it. “However, it’s not the court’s decision to decide the best way… I have to do what the law tells me to do.”
The ruling came four hours after the hearing began, and after the judge took a brief recess around 8 p.m.
Stein says there were “statistical anomalies” in results where voters used electronic voting machines. Attorneys for her campaign called several witnesses to support their claim that hackers might have launched a cyber attack or planted malicious software that changed the outcome of the race.
A University of Michigan professor who’s an expert on cyber security testified that it’s possible and that the Wisconsin Elections Commission doesn’t have enough protocols in place to prevent hacking.
The elections commission has said there’s no evidence of hacking or voter fraud, and that a hand recount would take a long time and a lot of people to do it.
“I will allow the 19 counties to do the recount the way they intended. I think everyone strongly encourages them to do the recount by hand, but it is there decision,” Bailey-Rihn said.
Stein’s Green Party wired the state nearly $3.5 million Tuesday afternoon before the 4:30 p.m. deadline to begin the Wisconsin recount.
The Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) denied her request for a hand count, saying state law gives clerks the power to decide how to recount the ballots — especially in light of the number of votes that need to be counted before the federal deadline of December 13. Stein’s campaign responded with a civil lawsuit to seek a court order.
Tuesday afternoon the WEC confirmed it made a calculation error when it added up the estimates from county clerks on how much the recount would cost in their county. The elections commission should have quoted $3.9 million — it was off by $400,000.
The WEC says regardless of its mistake, Stein will have to pay whatever the total cost is. For now the campaign was only required to pay the $3.5 million that was quoted.
If the actually cost comes in higher, her campaign will have to pay the difference; if the cost comes in lower, the campaign will be refunded the difference.
Until the counties have actual costs, not estimates, the state will hold all of the money. That’s causing some concern for Fond du Lac County Clerk Lisa Freiberg, who says the county will likely spend $30,000 on the recount.
While state statute says the county will be reimbursed, there’s no timeline for the county to get its money.
“My election canvassers and board of canvass will expect payment, of course, and I’m expecting that money will be spent out before it’s coming back in,” Freiberg said.
“It’s laid out in statutes. I don’t know the exact timeline when it will happen, but they’ll have to actually submit costs to us and we will pay them as soon as we can,” the WEC’s Reid Magney said.
That means the money will come out of the county’s budget, which is paid for by taxpayers, until the reimbursement is received.
Republican Party of Wisconsin Executive Director Mark Morgan issued a statement Tuesday night on the recount:
Republican Party of Wisconsin Executive Director Mark Morgan released the following statement:
This recount is nothing more than one final, desperate attempt by Wisconsin Democrats to change the outcome of the election. There is no justification for a recount and this is precisely the kind of underhanded political tactics that the voters of Wisconsin rejected on November 8th. While Hillary Clinton and her liberal allies are focused on undoing the will of the voters, we remain committed to protecting the integrity of the election process here in Wisconsin.” The Green Party was also raising money for recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania.
A hearing is scheduled in Pennsylvania on December 5 on Stein’s request for a court order to force a recount.
LOL...I have mine too! :-)
Mittens looks like he’s in pain and is being force fed something he can’t stand to swallow. LOL
I was there with you
As expected.
Watch them not take the case.
Can she appeal to a higher authority?
Has she really been scrubbed from the Green Party website?
Boy you posted a MUCH CLEANER version of what I have been calling her.
No, the court allowed the counties to do the recount as they wish instead of forcing tedious and more expensive hand count.
‘Mitt, small little bites.’
LOL
Yeah, but what happens if one county decides to do a hand count and holds up the whole works? Can that happen?
And Jill the Shill MIGHT be a total nutcase with no evidence to support her ridiculous claim.
Love it.
I am SO looking forward to them losing more votes with this recount! heh-heh
The turtle....LMAO.
The computer expert is an idiot.
WI’s election system is not connected to the internet. Not one part of it. It cant be hacked because there is nothing to hack.
Apparently so and she’s being pilloried on her Twitter feed.
This judge was just elected this year and doesn’t know “The Dane County Way”.
Kudos to her.
Wonder who’ll get the recount fund?
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