Updates About Elections

On Monday, November 28, the Board of Canvassers unanimously certified the 2022 Michigan election results for all 83 counties.

The bipartisan panel, consisting of two Republicans and two Democrats, accepted the results despite two hours of public comment urging the board to overturn the results as well as demands from dissatisfied candidates who claim election fraud occurred. Among these candidates was Republican Secretary of State candidate Kristina Karamo who lost by 14 points to incumbent Democrat Jocelyn Benson. Karamo’s accusations were not entertained by Republican Chairman Anthony Daunt.

In related news, the Board of State Canvassers unanimously approved the partial recount of Proposal 2, Promote the Vote, and Proposal 3, Reproductive Freedom for All on December 5. Proposal 2 will see recounts in more than 40 precincts while Proposal 3 will see recounts in over 500 precincts. This initiative was spearheaded by the Election Integrity Fund and Force, a group that has peddled election conspiracy theories.

Following the announcement that the current Michigan GOP chairman Ron Weiser will not seek reelection, several candidates have announced their desire to run for the position.

The pool of candidates includes Kristina Karamo, the Republican 2022 Secretary of State candidate; 2022 Attorney General nominee Matt DePerno; and Lena Epstein, former University of Michigan Regent and congressional candidate.

The winners of chair and co-chair will serve for two years, guiding the Michigan GOP platform.

On Monday, November 7th, Wayne Circuit Judge Timothy Kenny dismissed a lawsuit from Kristina Karamo – the GOP Secretary of State candidate – requesting to change Detroit’s absentee voting processes ahead of the November 8 general election.

Judge Kenny wrote in his dissenting opinion that there was insufficient evidence to Karamo’s claims of election law violations in Detroit. The court could not single out one community in the state for a case that “did not provide evidence in any of the 12 alleged election code violations” (Docket No. 22-012759).

The suit, upon its filing, asked the court to require the city only to count absentee ballots submitted in person. However, the plaintiffs tried to change the nature of their wording after the fact. The plaintiffs specifically sought an injunction to require the Detroit clerk’s office to comply with election law by validating signatures on absentee ballots.

Judge Kenny dismissed the lawsuit as moot, claiming that the request for relief in future elections means there is no present claim before the court. He also made it clear that the plaintiff’s complaints were untimely and would potentially disenfranchise tens of thousands of Detroiters in the November 8, 2022, general election.