5 of 9 voting machines being used in the recount in St. Croix County found to have broken seals

Quick updates in the recount battles playing out in WI, MI and PA. Temporary good news for Stein and company on the sidelines (Hillary):

Wisconsin: A Federal judge rejected the request for a temporary restraining order to immediately halt the recount filed by two pro-Trump PACs. A hearing is scheduled for Dec 9th. So far, the Wisconsin Department of Justice and Attorney General have not taken a position on the recount lawsuit.

In the meantime the WI recount will continue. So far one county—Menominee County, home to the Menominee Indian Reservation—completed its “recount” and added 1 vote to Hillary’s total. But get this stunning irony: Its recounted results found 17 extra votes for Stein and 12 for Libertarian Gary Johnson, while removing two votes from Trump and one from Clinton.

Michigan: The Elections Board deadlocked today on a Trump campaign request to deny Stein's recount request and on how a recount would be conducted. The two Republican members voted to prevent the recount; the two Democrats voted to allow it. Meaning the recount will proceed — unless a court intervenes. And one might. Both Michigan’s Attorney General (a Republican) and Trump campaign have asked state courts to prevent the recount. The MI recount would be by hand.

Pennsylvania: A hearing is scheduled for Monday on Stein's petition to secure a court-ordered statewide recount. As many have noted already, Trump’s lead in PA sank from 70,000 to 49,000. His margin in PA is now only .8%. The automatic trigger for an automatic statewide recount is a .5% margin. Very interesting note in this CNBC article: final counts are still outstanding in some places, including Philadelphia. Wonder if that vote margin will take another hit in Hillary’s favor?

Hard to believe this one: One rather stunning argument is being made in all 3 states by those seeking to prevent a recount: The recount must be stopped because it endangers the state’s ability to certify its election by the federal deadline. Is the absurdity of this argument clear to everyone? We can’t recount, audit or check the validity of an election because that might prevent the ability to make official the results of that election — results that are being called into question by the recount request. And through the looking glass we go …

Update #1: This is a potentially explosive discovery. 5 of the 9 voting machines being used in the recount in St. Croix County, WI may have been tampered with. These are a couple of photos available (Jill Stein added them to her website).

Oh, and these voting machines have USB ports in them … not that anyone would try to insert any unapproved software (or malware).