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Stein files federal lawsuit in Pa. recount push

by Rebecca Savransky - 12/05/16 2:39 PM ET

Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein filed a lawsuit in a Pennsylvania federal court Monday as part of her push for a statewide recount in the presidential race.

Stein’s complaint alleges that Pennsylvania’s elections operation is “a national disgrace.”

{mosads}”Voters are forced to use vulnerable, hackable, antiquated technology banned in other states, then rely on the kindness of machines,” the complaint reads. “There is no paper trail. Voting machines are electoral black sites: no one permits voters or candidates to examine them.”

Stein tweeted Sunday about her plans to file the recount lawsuit, writing that she planned to “escalate #Recount2016” because “people deserve answers.”

Stein filed her lawsuit, first reported by BuzzFeed News, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The move comes after Stein’s lawyer on Saturday withdrew a state lawsuit seeking a recount in Pennsylvania, saying in a filing that the petitioners are “regular citizens of ordinary means” who “cannot afford to post the $1,000,000 bond required by the Court.”

The suit filed Monday questioned whether Pennsylvania votes were counted accurately. It said the voting machines used in the state “have serious cyber security problems.”

“In the 2016 presidential election, rife with foreign interference documented by American intelligence agencies and hacks of voter rolls in multiple states, voters deserve the truth,” Stein’s new lawsuit reads.

Along with Pennsylvania, Stein has also filed for recounts in Michigan and Wisconsin. Trump won all three states by narrow margins.

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Trump and his top aides have been quick to dismiss the recounts, saying they won’t change the election results and calling for people to accept the results of the election to ensure a peaceful transfer of power.

The president-elect tweeted on Sunday that the recounts were a “Stein scam to raise money.”