Wisconsin Judge Refused to Order Local Officials to Recount by Hand

(AP) A Wisconsin judge has refused to order local officials to conduct the state's presidential recount by hand.

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein requested the recount last week. She alleged — without evidence — that the state's voting equipment may have been hacked.

The state Elections Commission has ordered the recount to begin Thursday but rejected Stein's request that county clerks conduct the recount entirely by hand. Stein filed a lawsuit seeking an order for a statewide hand recount.

Stein's attorneys argued during a hearing Tuesday evening that the best way to determine if a cyberattack occurred is to check ballots by hand against electronic tabulations from Election Day. State lawyers countered there's no evidence to suggest any attack took place.

Dane County Circuit Judge Valerie Bailey-Rihn refused to issue the order, saying Stein's team failed to show any mistakes or irregularities that would bring a machine recount into question.