LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein could be forced to pay the entire cost of Michigan’s statewide recount under a bill advancing in the state Legislature.
The Republican-controlled House Elections Committee approved the legislation Tuesday. It would require any candidate who loses by more than 5 percentage points to pay 100 percent of the estimated cost of the recount.
Those candidates now pay $125 per precinct, which is Stein’s case is nearly $1 million. Republican Secretary of State Ruth Johnson has said the recount may cost $5 million.
The bill would retroactively apply to Stein. Democrats voting against the measure questioned the constitutionality of changing the rules “in the middle of the game.”
The sponsor, Republican state Rep. Lisa Posthumus Lyons, says taxpayers shouldn’t foot the bill for “frivolous” recounts.
