NEW YORK -- Jill Stein went to Trump Tower on Monday to press her case for recounts in three closely contested states in last month's presidential election.
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Stein, the Green Party presidential nominee and now the leader of the recount campaign, made her appearance hours after a federal court ruling early Monday that ordered Michigan elections officials -- over the protests of President-elect Donald Trump and his allies -- to begin a recount by noon Monday.
In Pennsylvania, where Stein's bid has also faced resistance, her lawyers sued in federal court on Monday, asking a judge to order a recount on constitutional grounds. That move came after the recount campaign on Saturday dropped its election complaint in state court, citing costs.
Last week, lawyers for the Republican Party of Pennsylvania and Trump countered an election challenge filed by Stein's lawyers in state court, saying that Stein had not found fraud or illegality in the election. Stein's lawyers dropped that claim Saturday, citing a court order to pay a $1 million bond to proceed.
In federal court papers, lawyers for Stein wrote that a close accounting of votes was necessary in Pennsylvania because the state's election system was "a national disgrace" that forced voters to use "vulnerable, hackable, antiquated technology banned in other states," without a paper trail.
After finishing a distant fourth place in the presidential election, Stein has initiated the push for recounts in the two states, as well as in Wisconsin. She has cited concerns about hacking and the reliability of voting machines, prompting legal clashes with lawyers for Trump and his allies, who see the recounts as a costly and burdensome delay tactic.
"We are here to assure Donald Trump that there is nothing to be afraid of," Stein said during a news conference and rally with his tower as a backdrop. "If you believe in democracy, if you believe in the credibility of your victory, put down your arms, end your bureaucratic obstruction, end your intimidation."
Trump has raised his own doubts about the election, including his claim that "millions" of people voted illegally, but he has chided the recount effort. On Sunday, he went on Twitter to celebrate the dropped Green Party challenge in Pennsylvania, calling the bid a "Stein scam to raise money." Representatives of Trump did not respond to requests for comment Monday.
Stein raised more than $7 million for the recount costs, as some supporters of Hillary Clinton have seen the effort as a last hope to change the outcome of the Nov. 8 election. Clinton's campaign has played a passive role in the process, acknowledging that the margins in the three states are too much to overcome.
Stein's effort to call for recounts comes with just two weeks remaining before the Electoral College is set to meet and officially elect Trump.
In Michigan, county clerks were racing to begin a recount of that state's 4.8 million votes after the overnight federal court order concluded that waiting a few days longer might prevent the state from finishing a recount in time to meet deadlines.
The Michigan Republican Party filed notice that it planned to appeal the order, saying state courts should decide the matter.
Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette, the Trump campaign and political action committees have filed separate lawsuits asking Michigan courts to prevent the recount, arguing that Stein is not "aggrieved" because she has no chance of winning in a recount. A hearing is scheduled today on those actions.
Trump won Michigan by 10,704 votes, and Stein has pointed to the number of people -- about 75,000 -- who voted in the election in Michigan but did not cast votes for president as a cause for questions.
Judge Mark Goldsmith of the U.S. District Court issued an order that clerks begin counting by noon Monday, sending authorities rushing to arrange workers, meeting halls, security and other details of the recount several days earlier than had been expected.
Uncertainty about a later start date, Goldsmith wrote, "shows that there is a credible threat to the voters' right to have a determination made that Michigan's vote for president was properly tabulated." Goldsmith was nominated to the court by President Barack Obama.
Officials in at least two counties were prepared to begin at noon, elections officials said -- one at a county fairgrounds, the other in a school district facility.
Information for this article was contributed by Monica Davey and Julie Bosman of The New York Times; and by Scott Bauer and staff members of The Associated Press.
A Section on 12/06/2016