On Wednesday, two Republican members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers filed affidavits looking to rescind their votes to certify the election results in the county, which includes the City of Detroit. Both Chairman Monica Palmer and William Hartmann initially refused to certify the election but later backed down after brutal backlash alleging racism. The two were also promised a complete audit of the election.
President Trump praised Palmer and Hartmann for their initial refusal to certify the vote.
After the pair heard statements from Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson saying that the canvassing board’s promise of an audit was not binding, the two have attempted to “take back” their vote to certify the election.
From Palmer’s affidavit: “Later that evening, I was sent statements that Secretary Jocelyn Benson made saying that she did not view our audit resolution to be binding. Her comments disputed the representations made by Vice-Chair Kinloch on which I relied.”
“As a result of these facts, I rescind my prior vote to certify Wayne County elections.”
After initially refusing to certify the results of the election due to some 70 percent of Detroit’s Absent Voter Counting Boards (AVCB) being “unbalanced,” Hartmann and Palmer were harshly criticized by both their Democratic colleagues on the board and the public. Some of the public comments were allegedly threatening to Palmer and Hartmann and their families.
Among those angry members of the public commenting was Michigan businessman Ned Staebler, who reportedly worked as a poll watcher in Wayne County. “I just want to let you know that the Trump stink, the stink of racism that you have covered yourself in, is going to follow you throughout history.”
Staebler went on: “You will forever be known in southeastern Michigan as two racists who did something so unprecedented that they disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of black voters in the City of Detroit, because they were ordered to.”
A Democrat State Representative-elect Abraham Aiyash attempted to dox both Palmer and her children in an extremely threatening video.
“You, Miss Monica Palmer from (redacted), which has a history of racism, are deciding to enable and continue to perpetuate the racist history of this country. And I want you to think about what that means for your kids, who probably go to (redacted).”
In addition to the angry comments from their peers and the public, Hartmann and Palmer were reportedly told by Wayne County Corporate Counsel Janet Anderson-Davis that the decision to certify was not actually theirs and that the certification must be made that evening. Anderson-Davis also allegedly informed them that, based on her legal understanding of the matter, that the discrepancies noted by Palmer and Hartmann were not a reason to reject the certification.
The Michigan Democrat Party released a statement giving their version of what is going on in Wayne County. “Rather than recognizing and apologizing for their conduct as members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, Monica Palmer and William Hartmann are attempting to reverse their decision again after certifying the election results on Tuesday evening,” the statement read.
The statement went on: “There is no legal basis to their claims nor does there exist a path for them to ‘take back’ their vote. Certifying all election results for the state is now in the hands of the Michigan Board of Canvassers.”
No legal basis to their claims? Really?
Comedian Steven Crowder may have come across a little bit of basis. On his Good Morning Mugclub show on Thursday morning, Crowder showed the official Wayne County Statement of Votes Report. Beginning on Page 93 under the heading City of Detroit, AVCB 1,2,3 and so on, the county’s report lists approximately 173,000 votes with no registered voters listed for them. So, the official Wayne County results show 173,000 votes that do not link to any voter registrations.
The vice-chair of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers had an explanation for the discrepancies. “It’s not based on any fraud,” said Democrat Jonathon Kinloch. “It’s absolutely human error.”
Isn’t such a massive case of “human error” also a reason to audit the votes?
At the very least, the Statement of Votes Report shows that Wayne County is sloppy in how they count votes. Those 173,000 votes may well link to registered voters, but without an audit of some type, there’s no proof of that on an official county document. The votes are laid out as if they’re from specific precincts but which precincts?
Like so many of the results from across the country for this year’s presidential election, the results in Wayne County are fishy to say the least. Meanwhile, Democrats, like those in Michigan, are scrambling to certify these questionable results as quickly as they can — no matter who they have to intimidate and threaten to do so.
