Washtenaw certifies election results as Federal lawsuit seeks to throw out votes countywide
The Washtenaw County Board of Canvassers has certified results from all 150 voting precincts in Washtenaw County.
The bi-partisan Washtenaw County Board of Canvassers completed and certified the canvass of the November 3, 2020 General Election on Thursday, November 12.
One day earlier, a federal lawsuit, filed with the U.S. District Court in west Michigan on behalf of four Michigan voters, seeks to disenfranchise Manchester area voters by throwing out our votes along with all of the votes in Washtenaw, Wayne, and Ingham counties. This would mean invalidating over 1.2 million votes from the election — or over 20 percent of the record 5.5 million votes cast in Michigan. It would also mean Trump, rather than losing by 147,000 votes, could win by more than 322,000 votes.
The suit claims that votes statewide were “diluted” because absentee ballots were allegedly illegally counted in Detroit. The only claim related to Washtenaw is that county records appear to show more registered voters than people old enough to vote, which is true of many counties in Michigan (including counties that voted Republican.) This phenomena could be the result of multiple factors, but most likely is due to outdated census information and a Federally mandated delay before some voter registrations are canceled.
The lawsuit names as defendants Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and members of the Michigan State Board of Canvassers, Wayne County Board of Canvassers, Ingham County Board of Canvassers, and Washtenaw County Board of Canvassers.
The Washtenaw County Board of Canvassers is comprised of four members; two nominated by the Democratic Party and two nominated by the Republican Party. The canvass of the election in Washtenaw began on November 5, 2020 and was completed in fewer than 2-½ working days.
Washtenaw County Director of Elections Ed Golembiewski states, “I am 100% confident in the integrity of the election in Washtenaw County and in the process that has delivered official results today. The bi-partisan board of County Canvassers conducted a thorough review of the election returns from every voting precinct and Absent Voter Count Board and has certified the outcome.”
The Washtenaw County Board of Canvassers penned a letter, signed by all four members, congratulating all of the city and township clerks in Washtenaw County “for an excellent job in managing all the elements of the November 2020 General Election.”
The letter sent by Board Members Doug Scott (Chair), Dan Smith (Vice-Chair), Mary Hall-Thiam and Teena Weaver-Gordon states:
The Washtenaw County Board of Canvassers (two Republicans and two Democrats) would like to thank and congratulate all the city and township clerks in Washtenaw County for an excellent job in managing all the elements of the November 2020 general election. This despite political passions running high and a pandemic. They hired and trained many new poll workers, used new equipment, and saw Absent Voter Count Boards quadruple in size. We know these poll workers and clerks’ staff put in long hours because we saw notes signed at 10 pm, 1, 2, and even 3 am; those translate into very long days!
Likewise, we want to thank [Washtenaw County Clerk] staff for their hard work assembling all the voting records from each of the 150 Washtenaw County precincts for the Board of Canvassers to audit and certify. Thanks too, for tirelessly working alongside us in resolving our questions.
We also want to acknowledge the twenty-seven members of the public who observed our proceedings: League of Women Voters, MI GOP, Washtenaw County Democratic Party, Protect Our Vote, Biden Campaign, mLive and others.
County Commissioner Shannon Beeman stated, “I wish to personally thank all of our local clerks and the many election workers and inspectors. These individuals clocked in before 6 am on Election Day, and didn’t leave until well after midnight. I was impressed with the safety precautions when I voted in-person in Manchester, as well as all of the polling locations I visited in District 3 on November 3rd. With the importance of this election, both locally and for the nation, I’m confident our local clerks worked tirelessly to ensure accurate election results.”
The Mirror reached out to local Township clerks to ask how election day went in each Manchester area precinct. Only Kimberley Potocki, Sharon Township’s clerk, responded. She stated, “Sharon Township had a relatively quiet, but steady day on Tuesday! We ended up with just over 80% voter turnout for the day, with a 96% return rate for Absentee Ballots. Thank God for the beautiful weather, as everyone was in wonderful spirits and the wait times averaged about 20 min throughout the day, with the exception of the morning rush which was about an hour wait.”
On election day, 217,820 voters cast a ballot, setting a record for participation in Washtenaw County.
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