Wayne County, Mich., board reverses course, certifies election hours after deadlock

The deadlock along party lines came in a county that went heavily for President-elect Joe Biden. But hours later, the board re-voted and certified.

The canvassing board in Wayne County, Mich., which includes the city of Detroit, deadlocked 2-2 along party lines on certifying the Nov. 3 election Tuesday. But hours later, the board of two Republicans and two Democrats reversed course and unanimously voted to certify the results just before the deadline.

The reversal came with a demand that the Secretary of State’s office conduct an audit of unbalanced absentee counting board results, the Detroit News reported. 

Wayne County went heavily for President-elect Joe Biden, so much so that if votes there were removed from the state total, President Donald Trump would win Michigan.

If the county board had not certified the result, then that job would have fallen to the Secretary of State’s Office and Board of State Canvassers. The Washington Post reports that board is also made up of two Democrats and two Republicans.

At issue in Wayne County, according to the Detroit News, was that a number of absentee ballot poll books were considered “out of balance.” The paper said that same issue arose during the 2016 general election and the 2020 primary, but that the board certified those anyway.

Chairwoman Monica Palmer, a Republican, reportedly said she believed there was not “complete and accurate information” in the poll books. But The Detroit News reports that when Board Vice Chairman Jonathan Kinloch, a Democrat, noted that additional county tax money is being spent on the ongoing canvass, Palmer said she’d be willing to certify much of Wayne County with the exception of Detroit.

Trump praised the news on Twitter, but his tweet went out at about the same time the board re-voted and reversed their earlier decision.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., called the 2-2 tie a case of putting politics over duty.

“Suggesting that all of Wayne County can be certified, EXCEPT for Detroit, is horrifying racist and a subversion of our democracy,” Tlaib tweeted.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson released a statement saying it’s common for some precincts, not only in Michigan but across the country, to be out of balance.

“Importantly, this is not an indication that any votes were improperly cast or counted,” Benson said.

Biden defeated Trump by 146,007 votes statewide in Michigan, according to the Associated Press. But if the Wayne County votes are excluded, Trump would win Michigan by 176,918 votes.

The Associated Press and major news outlets have called the presidential election for Biden. Most have called Georgia for Biden, giving him a total of 306 electoral votes — 36 more than needed to win the election. AP and Fox News have not called Georgia, giving Biden 290 electoral votes. 

Michigan has 16 electoral votes, so even without that state, Biden is still above 270 according to the projections of all major news outlets.