Updated. Michigan's Board of Canvassers deadlocked
along party lines Friday on an objection filed by
 President-elect Donald J. Trump's campaign to a
 recount of the 4.8 million votes cast by Michiganders
 in the Nov. 8 presidential election. That means a
 hand recount will proceed, barring court action,
which the state's attorney general has requested.
The Board of Canvassers had said that if it deadlocked,
the hand-recount would proceed. However, lawyers
 for the president-elect have asked the board to stay
its decision, and it's unclear whether the hand-recount
 favored by Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who
requested the recount, or a machine recount favored
 by Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, will proceed.
Recount advocates have argued that a machine recount
 would repeat the errors — if there were any — in the
original count of the state's votes.
Johnson argues the machine recount would speed the
 process, save money and reduce the chances for error,
 the Detroit Free Press reported.
In either case, the recount can't start until Tuesday at
 the earliest, and it could be pushed back even farther
 in light of Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette's 
The recount is already under way in Wisconsin, but
 Trump supporters have asked a federal court in Madison 
to stop it, arguing it violates their due process rights.
Earlier update: Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette
 said Friday he has filed an emergency action asking the
 Michigan Supreme Court to stop a statewide hand-
count of the 4.8 million ballots cast in the 2016 presidential
election. The recount requested by Green Party candidate
 Jill Stein was among requests filed in three battleground
states that swung the election to President-elect Donald J. Trump.
Trump's campaign has contested the recount, and the Michigan
Board of Canvassers is meeting Friday morning to consider it.
“Michigan voters rejected Stein’s candidacy by massive margins
 but her refusal to accept that state-verified result poses an
expensive and risky threat to hard-working taxpayers and
abuses the intent of Michigan law,” Schuette said in a statement.
 “We have asked the court to end the recount which Stein is
pursuing in violation of Michigan laws that protect the integrity
 of our elections. It is inexcusable for Stein to put Michigan voters
 at risk of paying millions and potentially losing their voice in
 the Electoral College in the process.”
Schuette, who said he filed the action in his constitutional role
 of representing the people of the state of Michigan, is asking
 the court to order the Michigan Board of Canvassers to reject
Stein’s request for a statewide hand recount and claims it
 violates Michigan law.
Schuette’s suit explains that the Michigan statute authorizing
recounts requires Stein to demonstrate that she was “aggrieved”
by fraud or mistake in the counting of votes. Stein has said that
 she has no evidence of fraud or mistake, and Schuette argues she
 has not been “aggrieved in any sense of that word” after receiving
 only about 1 percent of the votes cast in Michigan.
Schuette also filed an emergency motion with the Michigan
Supreme Court asking to bypass the Court of Appeals for
 immediate consideration. 
Schuette’s suit also argues that Stein’s demand for a recount will
 be at the expense of Michigan taxpayers —she paid only about
a fourth of the estimated $5 million cost — and risky as well,
 because the delay caused by a hand-recount puts Michigan’s
votes at risk of not being included when the U.S. Congress
 convenes on Jan. 6 to count the states’ electoral votes.
On Thursday, attorneys for Trump also argued that Stein is
 not an "aggrieved" party by fraud or mistake; there is not
adequate time to complete the recount by Dec. 13, the "safe
 harbor" date to assure Michigan electors can cast ballots
when the Electoral College meets Dec. 19; and that Stein's
 petition wasn't properly signed and sworn.
Our earlier story: President-elect Donald J. Trump's
campaign officially objected Thursday to Green Party candidate
Jill Stein’s request for a laborious hand-recount of the state’s
nearly 4.8 million ballots. Trump was declared the winner of
the state’s 16 electoral votes by a margin of 10,704 votes on Monday.


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The campaign said Michigan election officials should not grant
 "this lawless, insulting request."
Further, the campaign said in the objection that "voters should
 not risk having the Electoral College door knocked off its hinges
all because a 1 [percent] candidate is dissatisfied with the
election’s outcome. Given her tiny vote total, (Green Party
 presidential candidate Jill) Stein does not and could not
 possibly allege a good faith belief that she may have won
the state of Michigan."
Stein filed her recount request Wednesday, along with a
check for $973,250 to cover the costs to recount ballots in
 Michigan’s 6,300 precincts. The Green Party candidate,
 who received negligible support among Michigan voters,
 has never said her outcome would change. Rather, she
has said she wants to ensure that all votes were counted.
Stein and her attorneys have acknowledged there is no
evidence of fraud or impropriety but raised questions
about 85,000 ballots with “blank votes” in the presidential race —
 more than enough to make up for the difference separating
 Trump and Clinton.
Secretary of State Ruth Johnson said Wednesday the
recount will cost more than $5 million, most of it to be
 borne by Michigan taxpayers. The state Republican party
went further, suggesting costs could soar to $12 million.
The recount was expected to begin Friday, but Trump’s 
equest will delay it, The Detroit News reported. The state
Board of Canvassers could rule on the request by 9:30 a.m.
 Friday, but even then the recount can't start for two business days.
Election officials in Oakland and Ingham counties had
hoped to start hand-counting the ballots on Friday, the
 Detroit Free Press reported.
Now it appears unlikely that the recount — if it is allowed —
will be completed by Dec. 10.
Trump in the past has been critical of the recount request,
 calling it “ridiculous” and “a scam.”
“This recount is just a way for Jill Stein, who received less
 than 1 percent of the vote overall and wasn't even on the
ballot in many states, to fill her coffers with money, most
of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount,"
the president-elect said in a statement.
Ronna Romney McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Michigan
 Republican Party, has called the request by Stein a “temper
 tantrum” that won't change the outcome of the vote.

More Patch Coverage on Recounts

The recount requests came after a prominent group of
election attorneys and computer scientists, including
 University of Michigan computer science professor J. Alex
Halderman, claimed to have uncovered “persuasive evidence”
 that the election results in the three battleground states could
 have been hacked.
Stein has also made requests for recounts in Wisconsin and
 Pennsylvania. Stein lost a bid for a hand-recount in Wisconsin,
but a majority of the counties plan to pursue that option,
their right under Wisconsin law. In Pennsylvania, at least
 six counties have received recount petitions, but the situation
in the Keystone State is more complicated than in Michigan
 and Wisconsin.



Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr Commons