Paul Egan, and Kathleen Gray

Detroit Free Press

► Update: Board of Canvassers certifies Trump victory in Michigan

LANSING — President-elect Donald Trump would have the right to object to a recount requested by Green Party candidate Jill Stein, with the Board of State Canvassers deciding the issue, an election official said Monday.

But Chris Thomas, director of the Bureau of Elections, said Monday he doesn't think Trump could argue there should be no recount at all, provided Stein pays the required fee and raises the prospect of a mistaken count or fraud. Instead, Instead, Trump could argue about what form the recount should take, Thomas said. Attorneys representing Trump said Monday they favor a machine recount, which they said would be more efficient than a hand recount, which Stein is expected to request.

►Related: Michigan officials prepare for 'monumental' presidential recount

► Michigan presidential recount: Here's what we know

And though dates for objections and hearings could push the start of any recount well into December, Thomas said election officials are planning to start a recount this Friday and work through the weekend, dealing with any objections as they come in.

With Michigan's election results showing Trump the winner by 10,704 votes certified by the board at a meeting in Lansing at 2 p.m. Monday, Stein has until Wednesday to request a recount.

Trump then would have seven days to file written objections to the recount, Secretary of State spokesman Fred Woodhams told the Free Press.

The Board of State Canvassers would then hold a hearing on the objections and would have to issue a ruling within five days of the hearing.

"If the objections are overturned by the board, the recount can commence after the second business day following the issuance of the board’s decision," Woodhams said.

► Related:Michigan to certify presidential election today, recount may follow

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But Thomas said state officials don't want to wait on objections to start the recount, because it is important to complete it as quickly as possible to meet a Dec. 13 deadline -- six days before electors of the electoral college are scheduled to cast their votes for president.

Lansing election attorneys John Pirich and Gary Gordon, who appeared at the board on Monday on behalf of Trump, did not immediately respond to e-mails asking if they agree Trump can only challenge the form of the recount, and not whether a recount happens, and whether they are comfortable with the recount starting before the seven-day deadline for objections has lapsed.

Scott Hagerstrom, director of the Trump campaign in Michigan, said earlier Monday that "all options will be open and pursued," but "it’s hard to speculate until a recount is requested."

“We just have to wait and see,” Hagerstrom said.

Attorney Mark Brewer, a former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, confirmed Monday he has been retained by the Stein campaign.

The Board of State Canvassers has four members. By law, two are Republicans and two are Democrats.

In the event of a 2-2 tie over what form the election should take, a hand recount would be held, since that is current Bureau of Elections policy, Thomas said.

The campaign for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton said Saturday night it will participate in a recount of votes after Stein officially requested a recount on Friday in Wisconsin and has promised to do the same in Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Both the Michigan Republican Party and the campaign for Trump also are looking for volunteers to be observers of the hand recount that would take place in the 83 counties where the votes were cast.

Under state law, a recount is only automatic if a statewide election has a differential of 2,000 votes or less. In cases where a recount is not automatic, "an opposing candidate," such as Trump, "may file objections to the recount petition."

Sarah Anderson, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Republican Party, said Monday the party is prepared to participate in any challenge.

The Michigan Secretary of State's office said Saturday it is researching how federal law affects the timeline to complete a recount, but it anticipates that a recount would have to be done before Dec. 19, when the electoral college, including the 16 people who make up Michigan's, meets to cast its votes for president.

To cover the cost, Stein, as the person requesting the recount, will have to pay $125 per precinct – 6,300 in Michigan – for a cost of $787,500. She’s raised more than $6 million toward a $7 million goal to pay for the three recounts, as well as legal costs anticipated to accompany the process.

A recount would continue what has become a stunning election cycle in which Clinton was the favorite in nearly all the polls leading up to Nov. 8, only to be beaten by the controversial New York businessman, who tapped into a vein of discontent voters looking for a change in Washington, D.C.

A recount also could focus on the under-count tallies, in which more than 84,000 voters didn’t vote for anyone for president, which is about twice the number of people who didn’t vote for the top spot on the ballot in 2012.

But a couple of factors could be attributed to that under-count, said Pirich. First, both Trump and Clinton had high unfavorable numbers in polls before the election. Trump’s were at 56% while Clinton’s were at 54%, according to a compilation of polls kept by the website Real Clear Politics.

So, it’s reasonable to assume that the number of people who didn’t vote for either Trump or Clinton would go up in 2016, Pirich said.

In addition, write-in votes were counted only for the seven people who registered with the state as write-in candidates by mid-September. So any write-in votes for candidates like U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Democrat who beat Clinton in Michigan’s presidential primary, or vice presidential pick Mike Pence or many other names that could have been written in weren’t included in the final presidential election results.

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.