December 3, 2016

"The Green Party is dropping its court case seeking a recount of Pennsylvania's Nov. 8 presidential election."

"The Green Party's filing came Saturday, saying it couldn't afford the $1 million bond the court had set. A Commonwealth Court hearing had been scheduled in the case for Monday, and the $1 million bond was due later that day...."

So that's the end. Doesn't matter what happens in Wisconsin and Michigan.

98 comments:

JML said...

Reality is is bitch.

Barry Dauphin said...

Emily Litella smiles.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

It's over.

Unknown/Inga hardest hit.

tcrosse said...

It's not over 'til it's over, and even then it isn't over. Still plenty of Bitter Clingers around, and opportunities for shenanigans.

campy said...

This could mean the Clinton Crime Family is now confident they've flipped enough electors.

alan markus said...

In my county they have finished counting 17 wards (about 20 more to go). Trump gained 6 (now @27,222); Clinton netted 0 (same @9,861.).

mccullough said...

Communists always run out of other people's money

alan markus said...



exiledonmainstreet said...
It's over. Unknown/Inga hardest hit

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Blogger campy said...
This could mean the Clinton Crime Family is now confident they've flipped enough electors.

12/3/16, 5:43 PM

I don't know about other states, but there was an elector from Michigan on Fox this morning who said even if he wanted to switch his vote from Trump to Hill (he doesn't, despite receiving death threats from cowardly leftist thugs), he can't. Under their rules, a "faithless" elector would simply be replaced by another elector who would vote for Trump.

I don't know how many states have the same rules. But I suspect leftist threats will have not have the effect the left hopes it does.

It will be a second opportunity for Trump electors to give a big "f you" to the Left. And it will feel good.

TobyTucker said...

What happened to all the money that was raised? Did it go to "administrative expenses"? (in other words, did some pockets get lined?) It sure looks like this whole effort was some sort of scam.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

It sure looks like this whole effort was some sort of scam.

12/3/16, 5:54 PM

Jill Stein counts her cash, and thanks the dupes who stupidly padded her coffers.

alan markus said...

From the bottom of our hearts, Wisconsin thanks Jill Stein & her contributors.

Scott Walker would 'look at' changing recount laws in Wisconsin

dwick said...

With Trump's margin of victory in PA being ~67K votes - the whole thing was far-fetched anyway. As the Dems informed us all back in the days of President Bill Clinton's impeachment, time to move on...

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

alan markus, Scott Walker has indeed been fortunate to have the opponents he has.

themightypuck said...

It means the fix wasn't in which means the other recounts will be like typical recounts and nothing will change.

Martin L. Shoemaker said...

Can we stop the count in Michigan, then, before it costs us as much as twelve million dollars, of which Stein has paid less than one million?

Michael K said...

Pennsylvania and its Democrats ( those not in prison. ) are doing what they can to help Hillary by publishing the names, addresses and phone numbers of GOP electors. They are getting thousands of e-mails and hundreds of calls per day.

Lefties are such classy people.

Ambrose said...

Do they get to keep the funds they raised?

gadfly said...

I don't understand why a bond needed to be posted since Pennsylvania had very few recountable ballots since their old EPROM-based voting machine produce only summary totals. Their machines simply did not keep individual ballot data.So Pennsyvania said that County Election Boards must "recanvass" the vote by looking at the totals contained in each locked-down machine. This means that if the summary list by machine turns out the same, the count is approved. Not much proof that the electronic votes contained in each machine is correct but if a machine was skipped or counted twice, a discrepancy could occur, I suppose. EPROM chips are pretty flaky to begin with and a little static electricity could do some damage.

alan markus said...

Her fund raiser has not shut down, and there is no update reflecting Pennsylvania. In the last 4 hours, she raised $46,100 - now at $6,945,288.

Wisconsin billed her upfront $3.5 Million, with proviso that she will be charged actual cost when it is complete. If she would shut it down before the recount is completed, she could pocket the difference. I suspect that won't happen as long as they are raising $10,000 an hour. Still a few low information suckers out there.

alan markus said...

Wow, she picked up another $1768 in the last 10 minutes.

Michael K said...

The real benefit of all this nonsense is when the GOP decides to take up a voter ID bill.

When Democrats start their litany of "voter suppression" we just say "Well, you thought the election was hacked. We will make sure it doesn't happen again."

They'll squeal but they opened this door.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Wow, she picked up another $1768 in the last 10 minutes.

12/3/16, 6:17 PM

Keep hope alive!

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Wait. What happened to the millions Jill Stein raised towards getting a recount done?

What a fraud.

mikee said...

The governor of NC is continuing his recount efforts, with a focus on the amazing results from Durham, reported quite late, where a 4:1 vote ratio favored his opponent. And enough votes were recorded to put the opponent over the top by about 10k votes. And that was a really high percentage and number of votes for the area.

Here's hoping he retains office, silly a Republican though he might be. Vote fraud should not be allowed to determine who holds high office.

mikee said...

The governor of NC is continuing his recount efforts, with a focus on the amazing results from Durham, reported quite late, where a 4:1 vote ratio favored his opponent. And enough votes were recorded to put the opponent over the top by about 10k votes. And that was a really high percentage and number of votes for the area.

Here's hoping he retains office, silly a Republican though he might be. Vote fraud should not be allowed to determine who holds high office.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Oh, I got it. Thanks

Ken B said...

Oh poop! I can't spend that 7mm you gave me! Cannot afford it! Can't even afford 1 of it really. Guess I'll just have to keep it. Can't afford not to.

wildswan said...

Wisconsin got 3.5 million, Michigan got 1 million to spread around at Christmas. Good on ya. And I am sure that Jill would want the counters to be paid $15.OO/ hr. But she gave up in Pennsylvania just in time to keep several millions away from rapacious rubes in flyover. And now they gather round the happy holidays wreath and sing for Hillary:

I'll have a blue Christmas without you
I'll be so blue just thinking about you
Exultations of red on a yuge Christmas tree
And snowflakes of despair since you're not here with me

rcocean said...

Assuming it over (which I doubt) Jill Stein has achieved what she wanted to.

1) People aren't blaming the Green Party for electing trump by siphoning off Hillary voters. Instead Stein is the new Liberal hero.
2) Stein and/or the Green party got a lot of money.
3) Trump haters got a few days where they could fantasize about Trump being defeated.
4) Stein caused Trump supporters some anxiety and the trump campaign some $$$,

Mission accomplished!

mockturtle said...

Off-topic but I'll be rooting for the Badgers tonight. My Huskies mauled Colorado last night. :-) On Wisconsin!

LYNNDH said...

I have ask this question at several different sites (at least I don't think I ask here). It is my understanding that the 270 number is the majority plus one of the valid Electoral votes. Now, if WI and MI are in recount on Dec 19, are they still valid for inclusion in the total Electoral votes. If not, the Trump needs a majority plus one of the remaining Electoral votes. Is this correct or am I smoking too much (being in CO).

Fabi said...

Keep being short-sighted, rcocean -- it'll hurt much worse when it goes in much deeper the second time. Lulz

alan markus said...

According to the FAQs at her site:

Q: How will you use surplus funds?

A: If we raise more than what's needed, the surplus will also go toward election integrity efforts and to promote voting system reform


So far, articles have said that because of this statement, FEC would not allow money to go to her campaign or to the Green Party, unless she goes back and gets permission from the donors.

Fabi said...

Step away from the bong, LYNNDH.

glenn said...

And NO REFUNDS!!!

Thanks for the bucks, suckers.

Spiros Pappas said...

Trump should drop Pence and bring Hillary on board!

Michael K said...

Spiros, were you referring to "waterboard?" OK by me.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

2) Stein and/or the Green party got a lot of money."

Good. I want her to run again in 2020 so she can continue to take votes away from the Democrat candidate.

Steven said...

time to move on

And yet MoveOn.org has a petition to recount/audit the vote . . .

Zach said...

Wow, what a scam.

Here's the worst part, though. In a perfect world, you want to have the laws governing recounts be a little vague to allow for unforeseen circumstances. But when you start having no-chance candidates launching cynical / scammish recount petitions, that stops being viable. Pretty soon states will start cracking down on exactly who qualifies for a recount, and then all that flexibility will be gone.

mockturtle said...

Stein will have to return those millions to Soros.

Tommy Duncan said...

Pennsylvania may be dead, but the progressive narrative lives on.

In the realm of progressives this is actually good news. They will consider this as proof the election was rigged and that the Koch brothers silently manipulated the system against Jill and Hillary.

Did I mention this is also proof that Trump is a misogynist, racist and fascist? And that the Ohio State attack is proof we need stronger gun control?

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

"They will consider this as proof the election was rigged and that the Koch brothers silently manipulated the system against Jill and Hillary."

Except for the small detail that the Kochs did not endorse Trump or give him money.

mockturtle said...

Except for the small detail that the Kochs did not endorse Trump or give him money.

Details like that would hardly deter the progs.

Fabi said...

Koch brothers -- drink!

Freeman Hunt said...

Didn't they raise a lot more than that? Will we see a Stein Foundation?

madAsHell said...

Charlie Brown, Lucy, and the football.

tim in vermont said...

Here is Snopes proving there is no voter fraud in PA.

Eighteen Republicans reportedly live in the nearby 15th Division, according to city registration records. The 15th has the distinction of pitching two straight Republican shutouts — zero votes for McCain in 2008, zero for Romney. Oh, and 13 other city divisions did the same thing in 2008 and 2012.

Three of the 15th's registered Republicans were listed as living in the same apartment, but the tenant there said he had never heard of them. The addresses of several others could not be found.
- Snopes

So they found a bunch of fraudulent registrations, it would seem, but nobody bothered to check if they voted.... In this case we would know that every fraudulent vote went for Obama. But if it might reflect badly on Democrats, Snopes suddenly becomes not that curious.

Snopes is never curion

Gospace said...

LYNNDH said...
I have ask this question at several different sites (at least I don't think I ask here). It is my understanding that the 270 number is the majority plus one of the valid Electoral votes. Now, if WI and MI are in recount on Dec 19, are they still valid for inclusion in the total Electoral votes. If not, the Trump needs a majority plus one of the remaining Electoral votes. Is this correct or am I smoking too much (being in CO).


There are 539 electors, total. If the WI and MI haven't appointed electors, then there are 513 appointed electors, and a majority of them are needed, or 257. They really wanted to throw PA into the mix. Which tells me there are 15 faithless electors lined up on the Republican side. We'll find out when the envelopes are opened.

Oh, one other thing. The WI Secretery of State, or whatever election official it is who certifies electors, could just appoint Trump's electors WITHOUT waiting for the recount. And they could meet and sent their votes to Congress. Courts and judges could scream and moan all they want, but it would be up to Congress, not the Courts, whether to accept the votes. A Republican Congress, Republican electors- take a guess what they would do.

That's what the screaming was about in Florida as the Democrats tried to change the rules. Florida law set a date for the electors to be certified. And the Democrats wanted the date changed so they could count just enough of the votes in some counties to put Gore ahead, then stop and have the elecors certified at that point.

MaxedOutMama said...

Philadelphia is holding a city-wide recount. This drama is not over.

Dan Hossley said...

it was never about a recount. It was about fund raising.

Dan Hossley said...

it was never about a recount. It was about fund raising.

tim in vermont said...

Bloated rolls provide opportunity for the unscrupulous to pad the vote for a particular candidate and the turnout. Fortunately there are poll watchers legally certified from both parties that assure that can’t happen. However, in 75 Philadelphia polling sites, the Republican poll watcher was at first either barred from entering or thrown out. It took three hours before a Common Pleas Court judge issued an emergency order that they must be allowed in. A lot can happen in those three hours.

In Philadelphia, voter turnout in 20 of the wards was 97 percent and greater. That is 97 percent of the bloated voter rolls that probably include dead people. Zombies are in these days, and in Philadelphia, they vote.
- Phillymag.com

So a small investigation of a couple of dozen registrations turned up "several" fraudulent registrations, and they are getting 97% turnout in these precincts. I am saying that the fraud in Philadelphia stinks to high heavens, and the Democrats don't want to open the door to shining a light on it.

Paul said...

Jill Stein is a rich lady now!

And Bernie has a new house.

Ain't Christmas great!

wild chicken said...

My friend the Elector says she's getting calls and long letters begging her to vote for Romney. She said she wouldn't cross the street to see him and is bound by oath anyway.

Sammy Finkelman said...

It doesn't matter anyway, since the results were never going to be reversed.

The Trump campaign is tryting to stop or prevent the recount in Michigan.

The recount in Wisconsin is going ahead. I read that Wisconsin actually has a lot of recounts, and they are somewhat easy to get. The local people have been told they don't need to count by hand, but most will.

THe margin for Governor in North Carolina is now over 10,000 so there is no automatic recount.

Sammy Finkelman said...

TobyTucker said...12/3/16, 5:54 PM

What happened to all the money that was raised? Did it go to "administrative expenses"? (in other words, did some pockets get lined?) It sure looks like this whole effort was some sort of scam

The vague language the Green Party used means they probably will consider any kind of activity involving voting, like regisetering voters; getting people to the polls; filling out and returning absentee ballots in other elections; lobbying, advertising, and suing to change or not change election laws; and paying people to gather petitions to be on the ballot; to be a legitimate use of the money.

And probably, when nobody's looking, and kind of use whatsoever by the Green Party. They can always claim somethings they do anyway fall within the categories of what they can use the money for, and if there's no enough, well, they can borrow it and owe it to the other activities. They can say their lawyers' fees are high for some purposes, and low for others.

tim in vermont said...

And look at the picture of the man arrested for writing racist, pro-Trump graffiti in Philadelphia. http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/real-time/S-Jersey-man-arrested-in-post-election-vandalism-in-South-Philly.html

tim in vermont said...

In the same paper" http://www.philly.com/philly/opinion/20161122_Commentary__Trump_must_denounce_acts_of_violence_and_intimidation.html

tim in vermont said...

I feel better about my vote for Trump every day.

Dude1394 said...

Stein reminds me of the lady with the tennis shoes filibustering in texas and thinking that would propel her to the governors chair.

Fluff, all fluff.

Scott said...

While I am sure that Ms. Stein is quite happy to have the extra money (and Sammy Finkleman describes quite well how she can launder it to avoid any real control on how it gets used), let me point out that she is getting something else quite useful from this fundraising for the recount....the list of donors. Anyone in the fund-raising business will tell you that a list of qualified donor names is what is really valuable, and Ms. Stein has just struck gold....

mockturtle said...

Paul said: Jill Stein is a rich lady now!

And Bernie has a new house.

Ain't Christmas great!


Ain't Hanukkah great?

Sammy Finkelman said...

There are 538 electors. Without Michigan (16) and Wisconsin,(10) there would be 512. A majority of that is 257. Trump has 280 without Michigan and Wisconsin, or is that 281 because of Maine's 2nd congressional district?

He has 260 without Pennsylvania (20) if the total of 306 with Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan is correct, and 492 in total and 247 needed to win.

One Washington State elector intends to vote for Bernie Sanders and another may follow. I'm not sure if Hillary Clinton's 232 Electors includes all 4 of Maine's electors but she will have at least one less anyway. The map at 270towin would give you 306 without 1 of Maine's, I think.

Four states were within 1%: Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire (which went to Clinton)

If Trump has 306, he has exactly 100 Electoral votes more than Romney got in 2012, with the same apportionment. This would come from Florida (29) Ohio (18) Pennsylvania (20) Wisconsin (10) Michigan (16) and Iowa (6) which adds up 99, so the 100th Electoral vote comes from the 2nd congressional district of Maine, which would be the only Electoral vote Trump got northeast of Pennsylvania.

Clyde said...

And now its....
Springtime for Jill Stein
And Hillary,
Winter for donors entranced...

What a caper!

Clyde said...

Paging Bialystock and Bloom!

Gahrie said...

Wait....she raised $7 million, but couldn't afford to pay $1 million?

Quaestor said...

Paging Bialystock and Bloom!

Can Jill Stein sing "Prisoners of Love?"

Kellogg's delenda est.

Quaestor said...

Wait....she raised $7 million, but couldn't afford to pay $1 million?

Côte d'Azur villas don't come cheap.

Kellogs's delenda est.

Gahrie said...

@Sammy:

He needs 270 electoral votes, regardless of any disputed votes, the number required doesn't change. If no one gets 270, the election is thrown into the House.

In 1876 some electoral votes were disputed, so neither Tilden or Hayes had enough. Tilden had 19 more electoral votes than Hayes, and 20 were disputed. Tilden won the popular vote also. It was a hotly contested election...over 80% of registered voters voted.

The Democrats ended up giving the disputed 20 votes and the presidency to Hayes, and in return the Republicans ended Reconstruction and pulled federal troops from the South.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Maybe she will buy a lake house next to Bernie.

Quaestor said...

If we raise more than what's needed, the surplus will also go toward election integrity efforts and to promote voting system reform

Which will take the form of a "working retreat" in Minorca.

Kellogg's delenda est.

SDaly said...

Gahrie:

Constitution says you need a majority of "appointed electors", if WI, MI or PA don't "appoint" electors because of delays, the number of votes needed for a majority is lower than 270.

It is a separate question whether actual "appointed electors" are disputed, for example, if state violates its own laws in appointing electors. If 538 electors are actually appointed, whether properly or improperly, you need 270, including any challenged electors.

Gospace said...

Gahrie said...
@Sammy:

He needs 270 electoral votes, regardless of any disputed votes, the number required doesn't change. If no one gets 270, the election is thrown into the House.


Well, maybe not. If the electors aren't disputed, but rather never appointed at all, which seems to be the point of the exercise, the 12th Amendment reads as follows:

The person having the greatest number of votes
for President, shall be the President, if such number be a
majority of the whole number of Electors appointed;


That would reduce the winning threshold.

Now, there are several ways around this. To start, the appointing official in the states where recounts are going on can appoint electors anyway. It's up to Congress assembled whether or not to accept the votes, and the courts have no say in it. Or, the electors can assemble themselves, take a vote, and transmit it to Congress. Both the Democrat and Republican electors could decide to do this, then Congress assembled would decide which slate, if either, to accept. I don't think any court would dare to tell electors they COULDN'T assemble freely if they so chose. And again, the courts would have no say in which slates of electors Congress chose to count or not count.

All kinds of interesting things could happen, but probably won't. What I suspect we will see this year is an increase in the numbers of faithless electors. But not enough to change the outcome. If the Democrats succeed in seeing that no slate of electors at all are sent to Congress from WI or MI, they're going to suffer even bigger losses in those two states in the mid-terms. Since it won't change who wins, we won't be in completely uncharted territory. But, it's not going to look good for Democrats that they forcefully attempted to force the United States into a Constitutional crisis.

Yancey Ward said...

A recount in Pennsylvania won't yield anything due to the equipment PA uses statewide. Since the election, the state has been collecting and counting absentee ballots and provisional ballots (ballots you can fill out on election day even though your name isn't listed as registered in the precinct). After the election, the precincts count the absentees and the decisions are made on the provisionals. Looking at the updated totals this morning on the PA government election site, it appears that Philadelphia County finished their absentee and provisional work and Trump's lead dropped to 49,000. According the other news stories, there are still counties counting absentees and provisionals. I would judge by what is left that Trump ends up on the 9th winning PA by about 60,000 votes give or take 5000.

However, Stein probably dropped the challenge in PA because even if she posts the bond, the legal costs are going to suck up the rest of the funds since the case has to go court to even get a recanvass of the machines.

Yancey Ward said...

I don't care whether or not the recounts are finished on the 19th or not- the Trump electors from those states will still attend the electoral college and vote. Any member of the House can challenge a vote for the president and any member of the Senate can challenge a vote for the VP. However, the House and the Senate will both vote to accept Trump electors from the recounting states and the matter will be settled for good.

I predict that there will be 5 or less faithless Clinton electors, and zero faithless electors from Trump's slate.

traditionalguy said...

The Glass Ceiling fell on her and left a grease spot.

Andy said...


Tim in Vermont said
So a small investigation of a couple of dozen registrations turned up "several" fraudulent registrations, and they are getting 97% turnout in these precincts. I am saying that the fraud in Philadelphia stinks to high heavens, and the Democrats don't want to open the door to shining a light on it.


Yeah to much risk for to little chance of reward. Is it any wonder the community organizer in cheif didn't want these recounts to proceed. He may be a horrible President but he is a better than average politician.

Kirk Parker said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
David said...

Translation: "There would not have been enough left over for me,"

Kirk Parker said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kirk Parker said...

Unknown,

"Stein reminds me of the lady with the tennis shoes filibustering in texas..."

Abortion Barbie?

David said...

"Jill Stein is a rich lady now!"

She was a rich lady before. Now just richer.

Comanche Voter said...

Put up (the bond) or shut up Jill.

richard mcenroe said...

Gahrie, Jill Stein is running in 2020 as the Congresswoman for the Cayman Islands...

LYNNDH said...

Actually FABI, I don't use the stuff in any way shape or form, never have and never will (unless I get some disease that might help me cope). I did though vote for the law. Tired of too much money and police issues being wasted on weed.

bgates said...

alan markus said...
Her fund raiser has not shut down, and there is no update reflecting Pennsylvania. In the last 4 hours, she raised $46,100 - now at $6,945,288.

12/3/16, 6:13 PM


Now at $6,988,854.

Anonymous said...

As with 2000, the recounts may end, but the left will keep the matter alive all the way until 2020. And in this they risk a replay of 2004, which remains the best Republican showing since 1988.

As for Stein, anyone who knew how recounts and statistics work knew this was a scam from the get go. Recounts by themselves will only succeed when the margin is paper thin unless there is fraud involved. She does thank everyone for the millions flushed down the toilet on this. So do every other one of the con artists to come who will rise up to part the left from their money.

chickelit said...

"Jill Stein" is the name of this little episode in American politics. It's just amazing that Clinton and Soros got her to patsy for this. Then again, I was surprised at Bernie's third dacha.

samsondale said...

It appears that stein dropped the state court action in anticipation of filing in federal court. The fun will continue.

samsondale said...

Or perhaps I should say "Stein will drop PA state action to seek a compliant judge in federal court. Sad."

Paco Wové said...

"amazing that Clinton and Soros got her to patsy for this"

I'm not seeing Jill as the patsy.

Darrell said...

Jill Stein had to do this to get her Lefty cred back. She told the truth about Hillary during the campaign and a lot of her followers and overseers were upset with her. In the old days she would have to blow all the old farts in the Party's leadership, to get back into good graces. But now she only had to embarrass herself as Hillary directed.

n.n said...

The Green blight of twilight receded with the dawn.

Karen said...

Not quite the end. Now Stein is saying that she's going to sue on Monday in federal court because the state courts can't handle it. They never give up never never never give up .

hstad said...


These actions of dropping the lawsuit in PA in state court and moving the action to Federal Court is all about smoke and mirrors. The money Stein's people used to get the Wisconsin recount going cut over half of Stein's reported funds ($4 million +). Also remember, Wisconsin's cost for the recount is an estimate and could be more. Thereby, Stein could be on the hook for a lot more money in Wisconsin. This essentially means that the PA recount can't go forward since the Stein's campaign has run out of money. Moreover, is the reported $7 million of funds raised real or just some figment of someone's imagination? Always thought that PA was the key and that WI and MI were just for propaganda. When the PA AG, who is a Democrat, joined the Trump's lawsuit in state court, I knew that Stein's voter recount efforts for PA was in dire jeopardy. Not sure if a Federal Court's inclusion in this recount will matter. Kinda surprised that none of the courts haven't squashed this entire issue - no evidence?

Rockport Conservative said...

Not the end. Still trying to throw a wrench into the gear of the electoral college. I find it disgusting.