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Board Deadlocked After Michigan AG Files Lawsuit To Halt Election Recount

LANSING (WWJ) - The state Board of Canvassers is deadlocked and therefore rejected a request from Michigan's attorney general to block a potential hand recount of the state's presidential vote.

WWJ Lansing Bureau Chief Tim Skubick said the vote was a 2-2 tie along party lines, which means the recount — which was expected to begin Friday — will begin Tuesday or Wednesday across the state unless the courts step in.

AG Bill Schuette earlier Friday filed a brief with the Court of Appeals and state Supreme Court to stop the recount, saying the petition by Green Party candidate Jill Stein violates Michigan law because she was not an "aggrieved candidate."

"The statute for the recount says the party (requesting) the recount must be aggrieved," explained WWJ Legal Analyst Charlie Langton. "And the issue now is what does aggrieved mean?"

"Jill Stein got about one percent of the vote. It's not possible for her to win even if pretty much all the ballots are wrong, which is not going to happen. So she's not going to beat Trump or Clinton for that matter."

The GOP claims that Stein is wasting taxpayer money and that she waited until "minutes before the deadline, making a recount impossible under state and federal guidelines" (despite being able to file much earlier).

In a statement, Schuette said, "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."

Stein, who also requested recounts in Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, has suggested that President-elect Trump and his backers would try to delay the recounts to make them hard or impossible to complete by the Dec. 13 deadline for states to certify their election results or have their electoral votes be decided by Congress, which is controlled by Republicans.

Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton by 10,704 votes out of nearly 4.8 million ballots cast in Michigan, but Stein alleges that irregularities and the potential for hacking into scanning devices call the results into question.

TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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