Politics

Michigan Certifies Its Election Results, Affirms Joe Biden Victory

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Michigan’s State Board of Canvassers voted Monday afternoon to certify the state’s election results.

The final vote was 3, with Republican Vice Chair Aaron Van Langevelde joining the board’s two Democrats. Republican Norman Shinkle was opposed to certifying Michigan’s results, but ultimately abstained.

BREAKING: Michigan’s election results have been certified via a 3-0 vote by the Board of State Canvassers. Republican board member Norm Shinkle abstained.

— Detroit Free Press (@freep) November 23, 2020

Though there was initial uncertainty over whether the board would vote to confirm the state’s election results, Van Langevelde said early in the board’s meeting that they had a “duty” to certify the results today, though he asked to hear the hundreds of public comments before voting to do so.

“I think we are pretty limited today. I think we have a duty to do this,” he said.

Monday is Michigan’s legal deadline to certify its results, which show President-elect Joe Biden beating President Donald Trump by over 154,000 votes.

The state has been the center of multiple controversies in the weeks after the Nov. 3 election.

It appears that Michigan is headed for certification. A GOP board member, Aaron Van Langevelde, indicates he believes the board is essentially ministerial and has no role investigating fraud.

“We don’t have authority to conduct a trial on whether election fraud occurred.”

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) November 23, 2020

Two GOP members on Wayne County’s Board of Elections changed their votes to certify the county’s results after they were met with public outcry but then sought to reverse their votes after they said that they were duped into changing them. The two members said they were promised an audit of the county’s results, but the secretary of state did not grant one, and state law requires that the results be certified before an audit takes place.

Trump’s legal team has also alleged fraud in the state, focusing on results in Detroit, though irregularities were greater in other towns in the metro area. The team also hit a snag after it used data from Minnesota to say to say that more people voted in Michigan than are actually registered to vote in the state.

Jonathon Brater, the director of Michigan’s Bureau of Elections, said that there was no widespread irregularities or fraud surrounding the state’s results. Chris Thomas, who held the position before Brater, testified during the board’s meeting as well, telling them that their role was merely to sign off on the results.

“You are the end game,” Thomas said. “You’ve got winners, you’ve got losers, you don’t have ties. Not everyone gets a trophy.”