Candidates requesting electoral recounts would have to pay higher fees under legislation that’s been approved by the state senate.
The bill would up the fee for candidates losing by 5 percent or more to $250 per precinct, up from the current $125.
The legislation is a response to the recount requested by Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein last year. She won less than two percent of the vote statewide, yet requested a recount of all of Michigan’s precincts. State officials say the recount would have cost nearly $2 million, yet under current law, Stein was only on the hook for around $975,000.
That recall was eventually halted by the courts.
The legislation now goes to the state house.
