GOP-backed groups file suit to stop Wisconsin recount

Two Republican-backed political groups are asking a federal court to stop a statewide recount of Wisconsin's presidential election votes that launched Thursday.

They claim that Wisconsin election officials won't have enough time to process the recount by the federal government's Dec. 13 deadline. Missing the deadline, they argue, would violate Wisconsin voters' rights to due process and equal protection under the U.S. Constitution.

"The Due Process Clause protects fundamental rights, such as the fundamental right to vote when state legislatures have chosen to allocate presidential electors based on the outcome of the popular vote," the complaint said.

Attorneys for the Great America PAC, the Stop Hillary PAC and Wisconsin voter Ronald R. Johnson filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin in Madison Thursday.

It says a statewide recount in 2011 took nearly a month — a much larger window than is available for this year's recount.

Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein requested the Wisconsin recount last Friday despite Republican President-elect Donald Trump's 22,000-vote victory in the state over Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Stein is also requesting recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania.