I can't see much statistical validity here. They obviously would choose ones in which they suspect they had the best chance of gaining. The hand-recount counties seem to be Democratic. But that's the law. I accept the useability-challenged ballots as being tough luck for the Democrats, so I'll also accept hand recounts as tough luck for the Republicans.
Counties get to run elections.
However, statistically it seems wrong. I do find it ironic that the Republicans are the ones trying to federalize the election. Briefly, using 1998 numbers, the 8 largest cities had a higher combined population than the 17 least populous states. This would lead candidates to only try to win large urban areas. Smaller states and rural areas would be ignored, and would thereby suffer.