LANSING, Mich. — Will Michigan Court of Appeals judges cross a federal judge who ordered the Monday start of an unprecedented statewide presidential recount?
Attorneys representing Attorney General Bill Schuette and President-elect Donald Trump argued before a three-judge appeals court panel Tuesday afternoon to halt a recount that’s already underway in the several of the state’s largest counties.
The recounts began following a ruling from U.S. District Court Judge Mark Goldsmith early Monday.
John Bursch, former state solicitor general and attorney for Schuette argument hinged on the fact that Stein is not an “aggrieved” candidate, as defined by state law, because she won less than 1 percent of the voter and therefore is out of bounds to request a recount.
“I think Court of Appeals will issue the opinion the Attorney General has asked for and at that point it will be up to the federal courts to decide whether there is any conflict between that order and their order,” he told reporters afterward.
“It’s possible to for this panel to issue an opinion that interprets Michigan law and says what an aggrieved candidate is, while still leaving the door open for the federal court to decide what happens next.”
If anything, Bursch said it was precedent-seeking measure.
“We don’t want to be in a situation again like this in the future where a 1 percent, fourth place candidate incurs millions of taxpayer dollars simply for authenticating a recount that’s not going to change any results,” he said.
Mark Brewer, the Michigan attorney representing Green Party candidate Jill Stein, argued the state court is out of its jurisdiction if it interferes with the federal ruling.
“Anybody who has a problem with the federal court order they go to federal court,” Brewer said to reporters after the hearing. “The law is very clear that a standing federal court order cannot be interfered with by a state court or anybody else.”
Early Monday morning, a federal judge ordered a hand recount of Michigan’s presidential results to begin by noon Monday, rejecting an effort by Michigan state officials to wait two business days before starting to hand-count roughly 4.8 million ballots. The move increases the chances that the state could complete the count ahead of a Dec. 13 deadline.
The Michigan Republican Party has filed for an emergency stay on the decision in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Michigan’s Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette also this week joined that federal lawsuit to stop the recount.
During a roundtable Tuesday with reporters in Detroit, Schuette said he didn’t believe Stein met the qualifications to request a recount.
“Michigan law needs to prevail here, yhis federal takeover is absolutely wrong, and it’s unjust,” Schuette said. “Michigan is very clear and we have a very transparent statute to qualify for a recount… you have to be an injured party, an aggrieved party.”
Stein, who received about 1 percent of the vote in all three states, says her intent is to verify the vote’s accuracy. She has suggested, with no evidence, that votes cast were susceptible to computer hacking. But her campaign has maintained it does not expect to change the election outcome but rather “protect voter integrity.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
