[ad_1]
Republican leaders in Michigan issued a joint statement Sunday (NZT) calling for the U.S. state board of elections to delay certification of election results, marking the latest attempt by party leaders to intervene in the state electoral process.
In the letter, signed by Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel and Michigan GOP Chair Laura Cox, officials ask the canvassing board to suspend the session for 14 days and allow a “full audit and investigation.” before meeting to certify the state’s election results. , a procedural step to be performed on Tuesday (NZT).
“This board is facing a tough election,” the letter says, citing claims of “numerical anomalies” and “procedural irregularities” that, according to them, would leave “the distrust and the sense of deprivation of the right to vote that they feel. many Michigan voters for years “if ignored by the board.
US President-elect Joe Biden, projected as the state winner earlier this month, leads the state by about 150,000 votes.
READ MORE:
* Elections in the United States: Donald Trump resorts to old tactics to maintain power
* Trump suffers twin defeats in effort to overturn Biden’s victory in key states
* Joe Biden will work to end the use of the death penalty in the US.
Matthew Dae Smith / Lansing State Journal via AP
Wayne County officials have noted vote counting discrepancies in various districts. But they said the size of the errors was small: a difference of one or two votes per district, affecting a total of 450 votes.
In a tweet, prior to the letter’s publication, Michigan’s Democratic secretary of state suggested that such an audit would not be allowed by state law. Michigan law does not allow necessary records to be released until the state certifies the results.
“I’m not sure who needs to hear this, but under state law (MCL 168.31a), audits can only be conducted after state tellers certify the election,” Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson wrote. “This is [because] election officials do not have legal access to the documents necessary to complete audits through certification. “
Still, the lawsuit increases pressure on the two Republican members of Michigan’s four-member board of elections, whose actions Tuesday could slow the process of finalizing election results in the battlefield state.
In an interview this week, Norman Shinkle, one of the Republicans on the state canvassing board, said that while he hoped Biden would win the election, he might suggest a delay to allow an audit of the state’s ballots amid unsubstantiated allegations from the President. and its allies from widespread fraud.
Alex Brandon / AP
Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel signed the letter citing allegations of “voting irregularities”.
Republican members of the state legislature declared Friday after a White House meeting that they had learned nothing to justify reversing the result in their state.
Saturday morning, Detroit News Reporter Melissa Nann Burke wrote on Twitter that she had seen four of the Republicans, Mike Shirkey, Dan Lauwers, Aric Nesbitt and Tom Barrett, leave Trump’s hotel in downtown Washington. Burke also posted a photo, which he said was provided by a source, that shows Michigan Speaker Lee Chatfield, a Republican, having drinks in the hotel lobby.
Lawmakers used their own personal funds for the meeting, said Gideon D’Assandro, a spokesman for Chatfield.
McDaniel and Cox’s demand for scrutiny focuses entirely on election results in Wayne County, Michigan’s largest and most Democratic county, which includes Detroit.
Wayne County officials have noted vote counting discrepancies in various districts. But they said the size of the errors was small: a difference of one or two votes per district, affecting a total of 450 votes.
Republican leaders said they “echo” the concerns expressed by the failed Republican candidate for the US Senate, John James, this week, citing a letter submitted by his campaign that denounced irregularities in the Wayne County elections. Cox and McDaniel called the allegations made by the James campaign “deeply troubling.”
“In light of the already unprecedented nature of this election, conducted largely by mail in the midst of an ongoing pandemic,” they wrote. “It would be a serious breach of this Board’s duty to the people of Michigan not to ensure that the irregularities identified by the James Campaign are thoroughly investigated through a full audit prior to certifying Wayne County results.”
Trying to offer reassurance that this was not an attempt to indefinitely block the state voter selection process for Biden, they wrote that “neither that postponement nor Wayne County’s audit of results would impermissibly delay the certification of election results beyond the legal deadline of December 7, 2020. “
