DETROIT – Republicans locally and around the country claimed early this week that they have hundreds of sworn statements alleging irregularities and illegal activity at Detroit’s TCF Center.
Among those making the claims was Republican National Committee chair and Michigan native Ronna McDaniel who detailed the unfounded claims in a press conference Monday alongside White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany.
“We have a whistleblower and now we have 131 affidavits talking about irregularities and problems that were happening in Detroit. That’s just Michigan,” McDaniel said.
Read: Trump and allies spread falsehoods to cast doubt on election
Among the claims are those that have been debunked or already thrown out in court. One of the claims was that poll workers were told to backdate ballots. A similar claim was considered hearsay in the Michigan Court of Claims.
Another claim was workers were allowed to wear shirts supporting Biden. Under state law wearing campaign apparel or anything showing support for a particular campaign is illegal. McDaniel did not provide proof at the press conference of illegal electioneering.
She also brought up the now disproven theory a software error in Antrim County that made an error in reporting the results could have caused a statewide voting problem. The error was determined by the Secretary of State’s office to have been a failure to update the software in the county by a single clerk with no evidence similar things happened elsewhere in the state.
According to a spokesperson for the state Republican Party, some of those claims have come from the party’s tip line asking for stories of wrongdoing. The hotline was set up after the election and does not tell callers to notify law enforcement. It does however tell callers sharpies are allowed on in person ballots.
The campaign for President Donald Trump’s reelection is also appealing its case in the court of claims which was thrown out after the judge said claims similar to the one McDaniel is alleging lacked concrete evidence or were already moot given the count was finished. The campaign failed to file required documents and had until Nov. 30 to file them or the case would be dismissed, according to a response from the court on Tuesday
Then on Wednesday, the National Democratic Party also asked to be entered in the Trump campaign lawsuit asking to intervene on the side of Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. According to court filings the DNC tried to intervene when the suit was initially filed but the court denied the request saying the Trump case wouldn’t move on. In its appeal the DNC wrote that as long as the Trump case continues, they should be allowed to intervene.
“The DNC… has an interest in ensuring both that as many of its members' and voters' votes are counted as possible, and that, once duly counted, they are not subject to additional scrutiny,” the filing reads.
Also on Tuesday, reporting surfaced suggesting McDaniel may be in danger of losing her job. A report from CNN cites sources claiming the President’s son Donald Trump Jr. is working to oust McDaniel alleging she hasn’t done enough to win the election and install himself high up in the RNC chain of command. It is a move that could potentially set up his father’s potential run for re-election in 2024.
Here’s what comes next in Michigan’s ballot-counting process
With Michigan’s vote nearly all counted, the timeline of what happens next is slow but necessary.
Counties across the state have already started canvassing -- reviewing vote tallies. At this point, candidates can make challenges to individual votes and canvassers can correct counting errors. The process must be complete by Nov. 17 when county boards have to send totals to the Secretary of State.
On Nov. 23, the state Board of Canvassers meet to conduct another review of the totals and hear more challenges. The board then certifies those votes and approves the electors for the Electoral College.