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Jill Stein turns to federal court to force Pennsylvania recount to proceed

Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein said Sunday that she would file a federal lawsuit on Monday to force the recount of the Nov. 8 vote to proceed in Pennsylvania, one day after a state court ordered her to pay a $1 million bond.

On Saturday, her lawyers withdrew her state suit, saying petitioners “are regular citizens of ordinary means” and cannot afford to pay the $1 million bond the court required for the recount to proceed. Stein called the high cost “outrageous.”

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“Make no mistake: The Stein campaign will continue to fight for a statewide recount in Pennsylvania,” said Stein’s lead recount lawyer, Jonathan Abady, in a statement, the Associated Press reported. “On Monday the Stein campaign will escalate our campaign in Pennsylvania and file for emergency relief in federal court, demanding a statewide recount on constitutional grounds.”

Lawyers for President-elect Donald Trump filed a motion to block the recount on Friday, describing Stein as having run a “failed” campaign and being “no more than a blip on the electoral radar.” Trump tweeted about Stein on Sunday.

Stein has raised nearly $7 million from donors to fund recounts in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, three states won narrowly and unexpectedly by Trump by a total of 80,000 votes. The Clinton campaign has been keeping Stein’s efforts at arm’s length, but last week joined the recount effort.

The recount was instigated after a group of computer scientists and election attorneys published a report flagging inconsistencies between counties that used paper ballots versus those that used voting machines and floating the idea that electoral apparatus may have been tampered with.

Stein plans to hold a rally and press conference Monday outside Trump Tower in New York City.