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Michigan Judge: Ballot Certification Should Go Forward

APRIL BAER / MICHIGAN RADIO

A Wayne County judge says certification of election ballots will go forward on schedule. He issued the decision Friday on whether or not to order a delay in certifying election results.

That delay request came from plaintiffs who are challenging how ballot counting was handled in Detroit.

President Donald Trump’s campaign has also filed a lawsuit in the western Michigan U.S. District Court to attempt to stop the certification of the state’s election results.

Wayne County Judge Timothy Kenny said Friday that allegations of absentee ballot fraud in Detroit were “not credible.” It’s the third time that a judge has refused to intervene in steps that are necessary to bless the Michigan results. Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump by 146,000 votes. The lawsuit claims Republican challengers were removed from the TCF Center in Detroit while absentee ballots were being processed. The court filing also alleges that ballots were backdated, signatures on ballot envelopes weren’t verified and other irregularities. Election officials deny it.

The judge also criticized the fact that the GOP challengers who filed the lawsuit did not attend a pre-election walk-through and training session at the TCF Center in Detroit.   

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said other efforts to cast doubt on the elections have failed, and these lawsuits will also be rejected.

“Either there’s no evidence to support their claims, or their claims are demonstrably false. And in addition, even if they’re true – which they’re not – these claims would not change the results of the election in Michigan.”

Nessel said the lawsuits can have no purpose other than to undermine confidence in the election, and she called that “unpatriotic.”

Rick Pluta is Senior Capitol Correspondent for the Michigan Public Radio Network. He has been covering Michigan’s Capitol, government, and politics since 1987. His journalism background includes stints with UPI, The Elizabeth (NJ) Daily Journal, The (Pontiac, MI) Oakland Press, and WJR. He is also a lifelong public radio listener.
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