Paul Egan

Detroit Free Press

LANSING — Attorneys for President-elect Donald Trump are to set out their arguments at a meeting in Lansing this morning as to why a recount of nearly 4.8 million presidential ballots should not take place in Michigan.

But the Michigan Board of State Canvassers declared a one-hour recess just as the 9:30 a.m. meeting began, as news broke that Attorney General Bill Schuette had filed a lawsuit asking the Michigan Supreme Court to halt the recount before it began. Shortly before 10:30 a.m., the board voted to go into closed session to consider the Schuette legal action.

A few minutes later, the board reconvened in public session and began hearing from Trump's attorneys, Gary Gordon and John Pirich of Lansing.

Attorneys for Trump filed objections Thursday to the recount requested Wednesday by Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who received just over 1% of the vote in Michigan, which the official count shows Trump won by 10,704 votes over Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Attorneys for Trump argue:

As the fourth-place finisher, Stein is not "aggrieved" by any alleged fraud or mistake, and therefore is not entitled to a recount.

There isn't time to complete a recount by Dec. 13, the "safe harbor" date to assure Michigan can cast its 16 electoral college votes on Dec. 19.

Stein's petition is technically deficient because it was not properly signed and sworn.

The Board of State Canvassers has two Republican and two Democratic members.

Gary Gordon, a Lansing attorney representing Trump, told the board Stein has suffered no injury and has presented no evidence of fraud. Michigan election law is distinct from some other states in requiring that a candidate requesting a recount be aggrieved, he said.

"We have never seen a situation where a fourth-place finisher has applied for a recount and gotten this far in the process," said Gordon, who said Secretary of State Ruth Johnson has estimated the recount could cost $5 million -- more than $4 million above the filing fee Stein has paid.

Though the roughly 84,000 ballots that did not include a vote for president may appear numerically high, it represents 1.73% of ballots cast, compared to 1.04% in the 2012 presidential election, Gordon told the board.

Stein's recount request "could have been filed in early November," Gordon said. "They waited until the last possible second."

Mark Brewer, a Southfield attorney representing Stein, said the Green Party candidate only has to "allege" she is aggrieved to qualify for a recount. She doesn't have to prove she is aggrieved, said Brewer, a former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party.

Brewer said it's been decades since a statewide recount was completed in Michigan and Stein has "every confidence" in the state Bureau of Elections that it can complete the recount in a timely manner.

Also, "I would remind everybody that the original source of the claim that this election was rigged was Mr. Trump," and a manual recount could also dispel his allegations, Brewer said.

Stein filed the recount request as soon as she had all needed data about precincts from the state, and did not delay, he said.

Fred Woodhams, a spokesman for the Michigan Bureau of Elections, said the state requires a fee check to be presented with the recount request, and that requires a count of all precincts, including absentee ballot precincts. Stein requested that information Monday and received it Tuesday, Woodhams said. She could have requested the information sooner and received it sooner, he said.

The board doesn't have to rule on the objections today.

►Michigan's Board of Canvassers:Who are they?

►Related:What we know now about recount preparations

►Related: How presidential recount, objections could unfold in Michigan

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