Wisconsin Republicans are claiming Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein illegally coordinated with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to launch a recount of the state’s nearly three million votes.
In their complaint to the Federal Elections Commission, Republicans say Stein mathematically cannot win in a recount and only Clinton stands to benefit.
Stein went to court Tuesday to ask a Dane County District Court Judge to order a statewide hand count. The judge said that while a hand count was the “gold standard” for recounting votes, the state law says county canvassing boards decide how the votes should be recounted. Stein’s campaign today said they would not appeal that decision.
Republicans say that since Clinton joined in that lawsuit, it is evidence the two campaigns are coordinating. It also says that witnesses in the case admitted to having met with “key senior staff members of the Clinton campaign and urging them to request recounts.”
The complaint concludes saying the recount “amounts to nothing more than a massive campaign finance scheme designed to shield the Clinton campaign from unpopular decisions which can only service to benefit Hillary Clinton’s campaign.”
Stein’s campaign manager issued a statement saying “The recount effort is non-partisan and Stein is not coordinating with any other campaign. Any allegations to the contrary are fabrications. The FEC complaint is nothing but a PR stunt to push a false narrative that will ultimately have no impact on the recount in Wisconsin.”
Full text of FEC complaint and the order to official start the recount
Notarized FEC Complaint WIGOP by mcint011 on Scribd
Meanwhile the recount was given the official go ahead Tuesday night.
Order from Wisconsin Elections Commission for presidential recount
Wisconsin Presidential Recount Order by mcint011 on Scribd