Updated: There's Still Time For You To Help With The Michigan Recount

By Stephen Gossett in News on Dec 7, 2016 9:48PM

Hillary Clinton speaks during a campaign rally at Wayne State University on October 10, 2016 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Update, 12/8:
Federal Judge Mark Goldsmith issued a ruling on Wednesday that "cleared the way to end" the recount, the New York Times reports. Jill Stein representatives said they intend to "pursue other legal avenues in Michigan," the paper reported.

Sites will not perform recounts on Thursday, according to Recount Michigan 2016:

Original:
Amid a slew of contradictory legal wrangling, the recount effort in Michigan carries on—and the person who ignited the effort and the candidate who would potentially reap its benefits are still seeking volunteers to help with the process.

Forms on the websites of both Jill Stein and Hillary Clinton list a series of counties within the state where volunteers can choose to take part. “Recounts play an important role in supporting the integrity of our elections,” reads the Stein site. “They also require significant resources--including volunteers to monitor the recount process.”

The road to recount has been bumpy in The Wolverine State as of late. A state court and a federal court issued opposing rulings on Tuesday. The lower court ruled to stop the recount, and the federal appeals court determined it should continue. That set up Wednesday’s development, when U.S District Judge Mark Goldsmith considers the case again. Goldsmith had ruled on Sunday that the recount should be accelerated.

Stein raised millions of dollars to kickstart recount efforts in key battleground states of Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, all of which were taken by Trump in the election. Michigan’s margin of victory (10,704) is by far the narrowest compared to Wisconsin (22,177) and Pennsylvania (70,628), although recounts tend to only shift totals in the hundreds rather than thousands.

The recount effort has certainly garnered it’s share of critics, and not just on the right. It’s been dismissed as “quixotic” (The Stranger) and criticized for drawing attention away from “the real voting-rights scandal of 2016,” the dismantling of the Voting Right Act (The New Yorker). But we tend to agree with the argument that, even if a reversal is unlikely, responsible election audits are something America needs more of, not fewer.

Those who share that opinion still have time to assist.