Jill Stein suspends voter recount bid in Pennsylvania

The campaign of former US Green Party nominee Jill Stein has dropped a statewide ballot recount bid in the state of Pennsylvania.

On Saturday, Stein’s lawyer Lawrence M. Otter withdrew the lawsuit filed with the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.

"Petitioners are regular citizens of ordinary means," the filing reads. "They cannot afford to post the $1,000,000 bond required by the Court."

Stein later posted a Twitter message, saying, "#Recount2016 is so expensive because of elected leaders who have refused to invest in a 21st-century voting system."

"How odd is it that we must jump through bureaucratic hoops and raise millions of dollars so we can trust our election results?" she asked.

Although Stein's withdrawal abruptly concludes the effort that began there less than one week ago, Otter said that this does not end recounts in the state entirely.

Her campaign plans to continue its “county-by-county recount effort” in Pennsylvania, Otter told The Philadelphia Inquirer.

"In the region, a recount in Philadelphia is already underway in 75 of the city's more than 1,600 divisions. Judges in Bucks and Delaware counties will hear arguments this week on whether to grant recounts,” Otter added.

Supporters of Republican president-elect Donald Trump have been trying to freeze recount efforts in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, the states where he narrowly defeated his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton.

The three states have a total of 46 electoral votes which could change the result of the election in favor of Clinton. But political observers say there is an outside chance of that happening.

A team of Trump attorneys filed a lawsuit Thursday in Pennsylvania, requesting a dismissal of Stein’s recount effort, asserting that she lacks a valid claim.

Trump lodged a lawsuit Friday to prevent an election recount in Michigan scheduled to begin next week.

Also in Wisconsin, a pro-Trump super PAC filed a suit Friday, arguing that Stein’s recount push could “unjustifiably cast doubt upon the legitimacy of President-elect Donald J. Trump’s victory.”

But Stein argues the recount campaign is only meant to ensure that the voting machines were not tampered with, questioning Trump's "desperate attempts to silence voter demands for recounts."

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