DETROIT – The Wayne County Board of Canvassers unanimously voted to certify the November election results Tuesday and asked the Michigan Secretary of State to conduct an audit of any Wayne County precincts with unexplained mismatching vote totals.
A Board of Canvassers meeting was scheduled Wednesday, but sources claim it has been postponed until Monday.
Initially, the Wayne County Board of Canvassers had two Republican and two Democrat members deadlocked on the vote to certify the election results in Wayne County. After the board agreed that they wanted to have an audit of the election, the Republicans -- Monica Palmer and William Hartmann -- voted to actually certify the Wayne County election.
Palmer and Hartmann said they had concerns with what they called “independent comprehensive audits” and with out-of-balance precincts. They said there were discrepancies they were deeply concerned about.
Detroit had the same issue in the August primary, but the board voted to certify the results then.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, along with Detroit mayor Mike Duggan, had a news conference decrying what happened Tuesday night and claimed the Trump administration’s actions, for all intents and purposes, was racist.
“Our eternal thanks for the vast number of workers and volunteers who risked their very lives during the COVID-19 period to count the votes, endure the insults, harassment and intimidation by Trump operatives seeking to invade their space,” said Rev. Dr. Wendell Anthony, President of the NAACP Detroit Chapter. “This is the deadly political virus attacking our election process. Monica Palmer and William Hartmann stood in the doorway attempting to block Democracy from finding its way.”
Duggan pointed out that these same board of canvassers approved precincts last time around, didn’t this time around. He said he felt that it was grossly unfair and unfair to the people of the city of Detroit, particularly the election workers in the city of Detroit.
Local 4 reached out to Palmer and Hartman and are expecting a statement between 2-4 p.m.