Crazy Process for Securing a Penn. Recount Has Begun

First Wisconsin, then Pennsylvania—maybe. Politico reports that the Green Party on Monday filed recount requests in more than 100 Pennsylvania precincts as part of Jill Stein's fundraiser-supported quest to secure recounts in three swing states. CBS News digs into the labyrinthine process in the state, which "may have the highest hurdles to a recount." That's because Stein can't actually file a statewide request. She can't request one on the precinct level alone, either, as she explains in a 17-minute video on her website about the "hoops" that must be jumped through. A minimum of three voters per precinct must submit a notarized affidavit to their county board of elections requesting a recount.

CBS News reports that as of June 2015, there were 9,175 election districts in the state, meaning some 27,000 voters will have to follow the steps outlined by Stein carefully. As PennLive puts it, "That's a tall order from a presidential candidate who got less than 50,000 votes in Pennsylvania." But Stein's camp is attempting to go big. The AP reports the party plans to file a lawsuit Monday asking for a statewide recount. It's unclear if the courts have the power to issue such an order. At 1.17 percentage points, or about 71,000 votes, Donald Trump's margin over Hillary Clinton is larger in Pennsylvania than in Wisconsin or Michigan, the third state Stein plans to go after. Michigan's margin was the slimmest in more than 75 years. Stein's fundraising effort has brought in $6.3 million as of this writing. (More Jill Stein stories.)