Federal Judge Ends Michigan Recount

[NightTrain]

It's about time common sense prevailed.


DETROIT – A federal judge who ordered Michigan to begin its recount effectively ended it on Wednesday, tying his decision to a state court ruling that found Green Party candidate Jill Stein had no legal standing to request another look at ballots.

The ruling seals Republican Donald Trump's narrow victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton for Michigan's16 electoral votes.


U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith agreed with Republicans who argued that the three-day recountmust end a day after the state appeals court dealt a blow to the effort. The court said Stein, who finished fourth in Michigan on Nov. 8, didn't have a chance of winning even after a recount and therefore isn't an "aggrieved" candidate.


"Because there is no basis for this court to ignore the Michigan court's ruling and make an independent judgment regarding what the Michigan Legislature intended by the term 'aggrieved,' plaintiffs have not shown an entitlement to a recount," Goldsmith said.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/12/07/federal-judge-halts-recount-sealing-trumps-michigan-win.html

[Elessar]

About time! Stein's effort was a fools errand from the start.

[jimnyc]

And the teeth grinding will continue. And now to them the electorate vote in mid-December is all they have left before reality truly sinks in.

[NightTrain]

Even funnier is the Wisconsin recount is getting Trump extra votes.

I was wondering why none of the pundits bothered asking Stein, if indeed her goal was truly to make sure every vote counted, why she only was concerned with the votes in WI, PA and MI. CA is rife with illegals and democrat voting shenanigans, but apparently things were A-OK there.

Eh, Stein got what she wanted for now - tripled her campaign fundraising and people actually put her on TV. Mission accomplished.

Long range, I think she's trying to set herself up as a new Nader Crusader or something... we'll see in 2020 if she tries to play that angle. She might even double her support to achieve 2% and get all ballots if she plays her cards right.

[Kathianne]

Stein's foray into 'election integrity' seemed to inspire the MI legislature, they've passed a more stringent voter ID bill:

http://hotair.com/archives/2016/12/08/thanks-jill-michigan-house-passes-voter-id-bill-after-vote-fraud-hyperbole/


Thanks, Jill: Michigan House passes voter-ID bill after vote-fraud hyperbole
POSTED AT 2:41 PM ON DECEMBER 8, 2016 BY ED MORRISSEY

Be careful what you wish for … you just might get it. Jill Stein didn’t get the recount she wanted in Michigan, but she did get the state to take vote-integrity issues seriously. Meeting in its lame-duck session, the state House of Representatives passed a tough voter-ID bill that includes $3 million for funding of free state identification and birth certificates after over 18,000 voters cast ballots without identification in the presidential election:

Michigan’s Republican-led House on Wednesday night approved a strict voter identification proposal over strenuous objections from Democrats who argued the plan could disenfranchise properly registered voters.

Michigan voters without photo identification could still cast a provisional ballot under the controversial legislation, but they would have to bring an ID to their local clerk’s office within 10 days of an election in order for their vote to count.

Current law requires a photo ID too, but also allows for voters to sign an affidavit under oath that attests to their identity and eligibility. The House might have had ample reason to wonder about abuse under that system when looking at the distribution of the practice. The Detroit News’ Jonathan Oostling reports that almost half of all such votes took place in heavily Democratic Wayne County, and almost 6,000 in the city of Detroit alone. That seems oddly disproportional, given that Wayne County accounted for just 16% of the state’s total.

It’s worth noting that Trump won Michigan by 10,704 votes, well below that total of non-ID ballots. That might tend to bolster Stein’s general complaint about potential voter fraud, but a recount wouldn’t be able to determine whether those ballots were cast fraudulently anyway. Ballots are cast secretly, so they do not contain any identifying marks. Once cast, a ballot from an ineligible voter is indistinguishable from legitimate ballots, and a recount would count them again, too. If the recount is about integrity and not the outcome, then Stein and her allies should be cheering this change in the statute, assuming it passes the state Senate.

What about that? Republicans have a supermajority in Michigan’s upper chamber, 27-11, so it would seem to be a slam-dunk that this change will get to Governor Rick Snyder’s desk. The GOP did lose a couple of members on the House vote, but they’ve got room to breathe in the Senate. Unless Snyder surprises Republicans with a veto, the bill should pass into law at the end of the session. About that, though …

Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan surprised his fellow Republicans on Tuesday, refusing to sign two bills that would have required voters to show photo identification before obtaining an absentee ballot. The vetoes are an election-year rarity for the party, which has pressed for tougher voter identification laws nationwide.

The bills were among three that Mr. Snyder returned to legislators after approving 11 other measures in a package of election changes based on proposals by Michigan’s secretary of state, Ruth Johnson. They were passed by lawmakers two weeks ago. “These reforms will make a good election system even better by adding appropriate safeguards and improving transparency,” Mr. Snyder said. He said the vetoed bills “could create voter confusion among absentee voters.”

Sara Wurfel, a spokeswoman for the governor, said that confusion had to do with a part of the bills that would have made voters check a citizenship box before receiving a ballot. Mr. Snyder suggested that verification of a person’s citizenship should be done only once, when a voter is first registered, she said.

That happened in 2012, and the citizenship checkbox requirement has been dropped. Snyder’s in his second term now too, and might feel more ready to implement better protection against voter fraud and ballot integrity — now that Stein’s paved the way for action. Thanks, Jill!

[Black Diamond]

Even funnier is the Wisconsin recount is getting Trump extra votes.

I was wondering why none of the pundits bothered asking Stein, if indeed her goal was truly to make sure every vote counted, why she only was concerned with the votes in WI, PA and MI. CA is rife with illegals and democrat voting shenanigans, but apparently things were A-OK there.

Eh, Stein got what she wanted for now - tripled her campaign fundraising and people actually put her on TV. Mission accomplished.

Long range, I think she's trying to set herself up as a new Nader Crusader or something... we'll see in 2020 if she tries to play that angle. She might even double her support to achieve 2% and get all ballots if she plays her cards right.
She certainly has the potential to make millions with this move. Even if she doesn't pocket some of the money she raised for the recount. Book deals.....