Judge Rules Against Stein’s Request For Hand Recount

A Dane County Circuit Court judge ruled Tuesday night against Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein’s call for a hand recount of the presidential election in all of Wisconsin’s 72 counties.

The Stein campaign argued a hand recount was necessary, saying the use of voting machines would “taint” the recount process. However, judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn found Stein’s lawyers did not adequately prove Wisconsin’s voting machines are, have been or could be defective.

“The experts have said there is a chance the machines could have been hacked or that there are other problems with the machines, that they don’t read correctly, all of which may be true, but there’s nothing to link it to Wisconsin,” Bailey-Rihn said. “There hasn’t been that link met here.”

Bailey-Rihn’s decision will allow county election officials across the state to conduct the recount as they see fit, either recounting votes manually or using machines.

Michael Haas, administrator of the state Elections Commission, said 19 counties plan to use machines in their recount efforts and 53 will conduct a hand recount.

“I think a lot of clerks will be relieved,” Haas said of the court’s decision. “There’s certainly a lot of good points made by the plaintiff’s attorneys, but, in the end, we’re interested in following the statutes; and the statutes clearly state, unless there is this clear and convincing evidence, that this is a decision for each county.”

Dane County, one of the most populous counties in the state, is among those doing a hand recount, according to a tweet Monday from Dane County Clerk Scott McDonell.

Matthew Brinckerhoff, lawyer for the Stein campaign, said they will decide whether to appeal Bailey-Rihn’s decision to a higher court Wednesday.

“I would urge all of the county clerks and all of the canvassing boards to seriously consider and reconsider their decisions, and let’s just do a hand recount,” Brinckerhoff said. “Without counting the votes by hand there will always be some question over the state of the election and vote totals in the state of Wisconsin in 2016.”

Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel praised the court’s decision.

“I am very pleased with the judge’s decision, particularly because she followed the law enacted by the legislature that sets the parameters for a hand recount,” Schimel said in a prepared statement.

The recount is scheduled to begin Thursday, with a deadline for county officials to report back to the state Elections Commission by 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 12.

“We really greatly appreciate the court ruling tonight,” Haas said of the timeline. “It will help us to keep things on schedule. Again, it’s still going to be a challenge for some counties to finish on time.”

The hearing began at about 4:30 p.m. and went until about 8:45 p.m.