Michigan presidential recount could cost taxpayers nearly $1M

Jill Steins aggressive recount campaign could end up costing Michigan taxpayers quite the sum. So much for Flints' water and blight as well as Detroit.

Stein is being charged $125 per precinct, a cost originally estimated at $787,500 in total.

But Michigan Elections Director Chris Thomas said Monday the actual cost charged to Stein could be around $900,000, based on the final size of the recount and the addition of absentee ballot precincts. Any cost beyond the $125 per precinct would be borne by taxpayers at the county level, he said.

Stein knows this but clearly doesn't care.

Stein's campaign said in a Tuesday news release it expects to pay a Michigan filing fee of $973,250.

But Tuesday, appearing on the "Paul W. Smith Show" on WJR-AM (760), Johnson estimated the cost will be double what Thomas estimated.

Why are us in MI on the hook for this? What sense does this make that this woman who has raised the issue can in effect impose this on the residents of Michigan?

"I don't think that $900,000 will cover half," Johnson said, though there is no way of knowing for sure, in advance.

"We'll have to see exactly what the cost is."

www.freep.com...

How progressive.

Wait until a Michigan Judge gets involved. He/she will shift the full cost to Stein, just like Wisconsin is doing.

a reply to: carewemust

We will see. I don't know if it will make it there.

Stein faces a deadline of 2:05 p.m. Wednesday to file for a recount in Michigan, about 48 hours after the Board of State Canvassers certified the election results showing Trump winning Michigan by 10,704 votes over Democrat Hillary Clinton.

www.detroitnews.com...

Also, some are putting it near the $2M mark, per the above source.

I was listening to NPR/ Michigan radio yesterday on my way home from work, They had a couple people on and they threw out a cost of maybe 2 million and the second guy said perhaps as high as 10 mill.

The numbers they throw out for political things is mind blowing. Oh its only 1 million, chump change... I've worked 28 years as a union sheet metal worker, good years and bad years, 4 years of apprentice wages and I am sure I have made a million bucks... but in 28 years lol....

a reply to: tinner07

Yes it's ridiculous, but hey, can't have music in public schools because it's too expensive!

Being in the steel industry myself I know the value of our shrinking dollar..even through 2008-

10 mil? I can't imagine that would be forced upon us.

The taxpayers shouldn't have to foot the bill if she manages to raise enough money. So far she has raised $6.5M out of $9.5M (the goal was $7.5M very recently). You can see the fundraiser progress here.

I can't help but feel that this recount is just an excuse to milk some more money out of the election.

a reply to: BlueShaman

Yes, this recount is supposed to be funded. So why is there a burden being put upon Michigan residents?

Perhaps I'm missing some information.

The Government should seize the funds Stein has gathered for this scheme, not do a recount and spend the money on infrastructure development in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

a reply to: JinMI

Republicans Say Michigan Recount May Cost Taxpayers $12 Million

a reply to: gmoneystunt

Well, the number just keeps climbing.


Still not sure why the difference is taxpayer responsibility.

a reply to: JinMI

If she cannot pay for it....meaning Stein....it should simply NOT happen.
She requested it....she pays for it.....totally.

Now it not possibly disenfranchising residents.....if the recount stalls and MI loses the electoral votes.....but also financial skullduggery!!!!

I guess I look at it like this... The results of this vote count are pretty big. President of the United States. Doesn't get much bigger.

There should be a reasonable way to do a recount. I mean the voter results were pretty much tallied up election night.

Are they wanting to go through the rolls and vet every single voter? We do remember the Florida fiasco. And Donald J Trump hisself saying the election is rigged.

I am not sure how close the vote was, 2 mill maybe, 200k??? 20k,

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

I agree completely.

Also an update. She did meet the deadline to file for the recount.

#notmybilltopay

Hrmmph!

originally posted by: BlueShaman
The taxpayers shouldn't have to foot the bill if she manages to raise enough money. So far she has raised $6.5M out of $9.5M (the goal was $7.5M very recently). You can see the fundraiser progress here.

I can't help but feel that this recount is just an excuse to milk some more money out of the election.

Jeez, she has upped the goal again!
There is a sucker born every minute.

a reply to: JinMI Stein mist the deadline for the Pennsylvania recount , but it did not matter much because she still gets a hearing before a judge on this coming Monday. she will need to bring proof that there was some hacking or rigging going on.

a reply to: carewemust

In case it is not common knowledge by now, we still use paper ballots.

a reply to: UKTruth
And let's hope she collects enough...and has conscience enough...to pay for the entire MI recount....as it stands right now...anything above the seven-hundred-odd-thousand she gave to MI.....those costs WILL be passed on to the citizens.


FWIW....this is not the first time the Greens have had a POTUS recount.....it happened in 2004 in Ohio.
www.nytimes.com...
They did not finish until Dec 28th.

At the official counting of the electoral votes on January 6, a motion was made contesting Ohio's electoral votes. Because the motion was supported by at least one member of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, election law mandated that each house retire to debate and vote on the motion. In the House of Representatives, the motion was supported by 31 Democrats. It was opposed by 178 Republicans, 88 Democrats and one independent. Not voting were 52 Republicans and 80 Democrats.....During the debate, no Senator argued that the outcome of the election should be changed by either court challenge or revote.

en.wikipedia.org...

~~~~~UPDATE~~~~~~

Steins' lawyers met the deadline and the recount is scheduled to happened. I hear on the radio that some volunteers locally will be involved and the process will take 7 days.

I'm still perplexed at the idea that this in all likelihood will cost more than what was paid and that residents will have to eat that cost.

Mark Brewer, the Michigan-based attorney representing Stein, arrived at the Board of Elections office in Lansing with several other attorneys representing the campaign. He brought along a check for $973,250, which represents the $125 per precinct Stein must pay for the recount.

All of the above facts still apply. Anywhere from 1 to *gulp* 10 million dollars will need to be paid for by taxpayers.
Madness.
www.freep.com...

a reply to: JinMI

I don't know how they came up with that fee per precinct, it's way lower than the actual costs of labor even.....good thing they don't get paid $15 an hour for it.

UPDATE
~~~~~~~~~~~~

It appears the Stein people make cough up more to cover costs.
This link also has a copy of the recount request.

Jessica Clarke, an attorney for the Massachusetts doctor, suggested Wednesday the Stein campaign may be willing to cover some additional costs. But she wouldn’t commit to the full sum.

“Right now, no one knows what the cost of the recount is going to be,” Clarke said. “Our intent is to do what we can to cover the cost of the recount.”

www.detroitnews.com...

And, what cavalier BS.....

“Most of that cost, if not all of it, should be handled by the fee,” Stein said. “And if some of it is not, you know, democracy is not free.”