RECOUNT UP DATE

Philadelphia voluntarily is going to recount the 2016 ballots because of finding discrepancies in the final tallies.

The drop in amount for Trump cut his lead in half and brought the state within 0.2% of the margin when a full recount is automatic. The Stein campaign has sued for a forensic audit of the election, because the state uses optical scanners which can be hacked and manipulated. 

The Recount rules are so convoluted that 3 voters per print are required to  petition for a recount. However,in Lancaster County, the petitioners were denied but they were not told they had to file it at the Small Claims Court.

Trump's attorneys in New York have filed to stop any recount effort. 

In Michigan, .5% separates Trump and Clinton. Today The Attorney-General Bill Schuette, who had worked for Jeb Bush and then later Trump,filed an emergency motion with the state's Supreme Court by opassing the Appeals Court to stop the recount. Also,Trump's SuperPac and a wealthy citizen of Michigan also filed suit within 2 Hours of the Attorney General's suit. 

Stein's answer was that over 75,000 ballots were cast in Detroit without a presidential choice, which would exceed the margin of victory by Trump and that this presents a Red Flag that African-Americans are disenfranchised. Stein has paid the $1 million recount fees even though the Attorney Generl claims the cost to citizens would be excessive.

A Federal judge in Wisconsin orders the count to continue. There Stein paid $4 million in recount fees ,which had been $1 million until Scott Walker raised the fees after one of his victories. In Wisconsin, for instance, one county had Trump winning by 13,000 when the Republican won in 2012 by 1,500. 

For updates on the recount and why it is important,listen to Bradblog podcast by Bred Friedman, a progressive who actually gives you the details about why recounts are important band the technical problems with our electoral system.

But this election has the most recounts conducted at one time in our history. The State of Nevada is now recounting in several counties and if they change the tally, the whole state will be in a recount.

The Trump and Republican forces are pulling the 2000 playbook where they prevented the ballots in Florida from being counted. Gore had filed petitions to recount in three counties and Bush managed to have that stopped and only afterwards we found that Gore won the state and should have won the election.

What's making people curious is that Hillary Clinton's popular lead just increases and is coming close to what the polls projected. The discrepancy between the popular vote and the electoral college is unprecedented.