In hopes of testing whether the output from proprietary voting machine hardware and software was accurate, the Stein campaign has paid the state of Wisconsin a $3.5 million dollar recount filing fee, (plus $400K later), to compare the existing machine counts to hand ballot recounts. However the spirit of hardware/software troubleshooting seems to have run aground of the Badger State's legal system:
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...
- Wisconsin judge refuses to order hand recount
The Associated Press, November 29, 2016 9:47 PM
What sort of "mistakes or irregularities" would be required by WI Law to bring a machine recount into question? Also, which law or statute would cover this requirement.
Surely the applicable law must address obvious mechanical and symptoms or errors, (i.e. a voting machine emitting sparks or smoke), but it's unclear if it was drafted by legislators who knew much about software bugs, viruses, or exploits.