The Michigan Supreme Court has decided Friday not to hear Jill Stein's appeal on the ruling that ended Michigan's recount Wednesday.
Even though the recount is over, Stein's attorney is raising concerns discovered during the recount process.
“I think halting the recount at this point raises more suspicions,” said attorney Mark Brewer, representing Stein in the recount case.
The recount in our state wasn't underway for very long but Brewer says it was enough time to discover some problems.
“Ballot bags with holes big enough to put ballots in a bag or take them out, ballots stored in unsecured closets in places around the state, and ballots put in unlocked boxes,” said Brewer.
At some precincts, hand counted votes didn't match what machines reported on election night.
“The optical scan machines are not as accurate as they could be,” said Brewer. “They miss votes, they don't read marks on ballots that are clearly legal votes under Michigan law.”
“What it does do is prove the point that I’ve been saying for over four years, our election equipment is way too outdated,” said Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum.
Even though problems were found, Byrum says they could have been discovered during standard audits.
“I don't think there was any malice, fraud, or anything like that in our county,” said Byrum. “They were accidents, most of our precincts were recountable.”
While it’s unknown if the Michigan Supreme Court will hear the appeal, Brewer says we do know what actions need to be taken before the next election.
“We need to get to a system where every vote is counted so every voter when they vote has confidence that its going to get counted it’s not the case now,” said Brewer.
If the state Supreme Court takes the case, only five of the seven justices will hear arguments.
Chief Justice Robert Young and Justice Joan Larsen have recused themselves from the case because they're both on Donald Trump's short list for the United States Supreme Court.
Click here to see the unofficial results for precincts in counties that were recounted before a judge halted the efforts.
