Dr. Valerie Arkoosh, chair of the Montgomery County Board of Elections, issued a statement on Monday regarding the decision to postpone certification of the Montgomery County general election results: "We have been put on notice by the Jill Stein campaign and a number of citizens in Montgomery County that they intend to challenge the results of the 2016 general election and they are seeking a recount.

                "As of 3:30 p.m. today we have received 91 petitions calling for a recount. We notified those presenting the petitions that they would need to request a recount from the Court of Common Pleas in Montgomery County, but we would keep their petitions on file.

                "Because of this potential challenge to the results, we have notified the state and delayed the certification of the election results until Dec. 12, 2016 at noon."

                The action taken by the Board of Elections was in response to a suit filed in Pennsylvania by former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, contesting the election results and seeking a statewide recount.

                Documents filed in Commonwealth Court contend the Nov. 8 election was "illegal" and that the petitioners "have grave concerns about the integrity of electronic voting machines used in their districts," among other claims.

                The lawsuit will have to present evidence that election fraud was probable in Pennsylvania – something that Pennsylvania Secretary of State Pedro Cortes says there's no evidence of.

                According to reports, the computer scientists who recommended a recount to rule out tampering have gone to great lengths to make it clear there is no proof of hacking or fraud in the election results.

                The deadline for a voter-initiated recount at the county level was Monday, Nov. 21 and about half of the counties in the Pennsylvania have already certified their results, preventing recounts there. According to some officials, a lawsuit was the only remaining option for initiating a statewide recount. 

                Complicating any recount effort is the fact that Pennsylvania is one of 15 states that use electronic voting machines that don't have a paper-backed audit and that could complicate the recount effort.

                The Court of Common Pleas has scheduled a hearing for Monday, Dec. 5 on the suit.  A decision is expected by Dec. 13.