Joe Biden won Michigan by over 140,000 votes, so it would seem that state should be safely in the Biden column. However, even though Election Day was two weeks ago, the election isn’t really over until the vote counts are certified at the local and state level. And last night, that simple procedure suddenly took on amazing significance in Michigan.
Wayne County is the where Detroit is located. Joe Biden won that county by over 300,000 votes, thus giving him much of his margin in the state. The Wayne County Board of Canvassers, made up of two Republicans and two Democrats, is the local board that certifies the election results. And last night they deadlocked at 2-2, with the Republicans refusing to certify the results. One of the Republicans said she would certify all the votes outside of Detroit, which is 80% black. But, she would certify a white community outside of Detroit, even though it had more reported irregularities.
This sparked an immediate backlash, with activists across Detroit and Michigan calling out the board for an obviously racist decision.
https://twitter.com/raywert/status/1328856173513150464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1328856173513150464%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailykos.com%2Fstory%2F2020%2F11%2F18%2F1996583%2F-The-coup-that-didn-t-happen-An-attempt-to-hijack-Michigan-gets-turned-back-by-righteous-opposition
Staebler: I’m not going to try to change your minds. I’m just going to let you know that the Trump stain; the stain of racism that you William Hartmann and Monica Palmer have just covered yourself in, is going to follow you throughout history. Your grandchildren are going to think of you like Bull Conner, or George Wallace. Monica Palmer and William Hartmann 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.
Because of the margin in Wayne County, if its votes were thrown out, the state and its 16 electoral votes would go to Trump.
If the local board stayed deadlocked, the certification would go to the state board, which is also evenly divided. If the state board deadlocked, it was unclear whether the secretary of state or the legislature would be the next step. The legislature is controlled by Republicans, who would certainly award the state to Trump.
BUT – according to reporter Kathy Gray, after about three hours of voters “loudly calling out the board for trying to disenfranchise Detroit voters,” the board voted unanimously to certify the results. “Really frustrating thing is that the board was muted for about five minutes and came back on and basically said never mind, we changed our minds and certified the results. No explanation.”
So, take note – even after a clear win in an election, the win isn’t locked in until it is certified. And those certifications are happening all over the country, at all government levels. As Rachel Maddow would say, Watch this space.
–30–