US Green Party drops election recount bid in Pennsylvania

Former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein dropped her efforts Saturday to request a vote recount in Pennsylvania, one of three battleground states won by Donald Trump where she challenged the results.

"Petitioners are regular citizens of ordinary means. They cannot afford to post the $1,000,000 bond required by the court," read a filing submitted in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.

Stein plans to hold a rally on Monday across the street from Trump Tower in New York "vowing to fight tooth and nail to verify the accuracy, security and fairness of the vote," a statement read.

On Twitter, she added: "How odd is it that we must jump through bureaucratic hoops and raise millions of dollars so we can trust our election results? #Recount2016.

"#Recount2016 is so expensive because of elected leaders who have refused to invest in a 21st-century voting system," she said.

Stein's fundraising efforts for recounts in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin have obtained nearly $7 million so far, according to her website. In all three states, Trump only narrowly defeated Clinton.

Her recount request in Pennsylvania was complicated by opposition from Trump. Michigan's attorney general filed suit to halt Stein's recounts efforts in the state. And in Wisconsin, Trump supporters have tried to stop the recount there.

Stein's campaign has cited unspecified "anomalies" as grounds to mount a challenge in all three Rust Belt states.

The move came amid stepped-up calls from some of Trump's leftist opponents to challenge the results of the November 8 election, which followed a bitter campaign that included persistent charges of Russian hacking and allegations by Trump of fraud.

Although experts say there is virtually no chance of overturning the result, the demands could reignite debate over the legitimacy of Trump's election, already fueled by Democrat Hillary Clinton's lead in the popular vote, which now stands at around 2.5 million.