Residents wait to cast their votes in North Philadelphia on Nov. 8, 2016. | AP Photo Green Party drops Pennsylvania recount bid

The Green Party has dropped its bid for a statewide recount of votes cast in Pennsylvania during the Nov. 8 presidential election, according to court documents released Saturday.

The decision to withdraw the case, which sought to recount votes that lawyers argued could have been affected by potential hacking into voting machines, preceded a hearing scheduled for Monday.


Jill Stein, the Green Party’s presidential candidate who led a recount effort across Pennsylvania as well as Wisconsin and Michigan, where President-elect Donald Trump secured narrow wins over Hillary Clinton in the general election, slammed the state's required $1 million bond to begin the recount in a statement Saturday night.

"The judge's outrageous demand that voters pay such an exorbitant figure is a shameful, unacceptable barrier to democratic participation," Stein said. "This is yet another sign that Pennsylvania’s antiquated election law is stacked against voters. By demanding a $1 million bond from voters yesterday, the court made clear it has no interest in giving a fair hearing to these voters’ legitimate concerns over the accuracy, security and fairness of an election tainted by suspicion."

Pennsylvania state officials had previously estimated the recount's cost would be $500,000.

Stein had raised roughly $6.5 million since she began pushing for recounts across the three states, but her campaign estimated she would need $9.5 million to pay for the combined recounts. That number includes "payments to states, lawyers, volunteer recruitment and other technical assistance," according to a campaign fact sheet.

On Thursday, lawyers representing Trump motioned to block the vote recount in Pennsylvania – the latest in a series of complaints issued to stop the statewide efforts in Michigan and Wisconsin, for which Stein filed ahead of the state deadlines.

"Despite being no more than a blip on the electoral radar, Stein has now commandeered Pennsylvania's electoral process, with an eye toward doing the same to the Electoral College," the complaint reads. "There is no evidence -- or even an allegation -- that any tampering with Pennsylvania's voting systems actually occurred."

Stein plans to speak at a press conference outside Trump Tower Monday at 10 a.m., according to her statement. The recount effort "continues at the county level where the campaign is pushing for forensic audits of voting machine software," according to Jordan Brueckner, a spokeswoman for the recount efforts.