DETROIT (NewsNation Now) — The Republican National Committee and the Michigan GOP wrote to the Michigan’s election canvass board asking it adjourn for 14 days to allow for an audit of the vote in the state’s most populous county.
Michigan’s election agency recommended Friday that the Nov. 3 election results be certified by state canvassers, a decision that would cement Joe Biden’s victory over President Donald Trump in the battleground state. The board, which includes two Democrats and two Republicans, is due to meet on Nov. 23 to certify election results and will have as many as 20 days to do so.
The letter urged a full audit of votes in Wayne County, which includes the majority-Black city of Detroit, citing allegations of “irregularities” in the county that have not been substantiated.
“We are distressed by the comments of some public officials in Michigan casually dismissing the significant problems and irregularities seen in Wayne County,” the letter said in part.
The letter made reference to the hand tally performed by Georgia. The hand tally of about 5 million votes in Georgia stemmed from an audit required by a new state law and wasn’t in response to any suspected problems with the state’s results or an official recount request. The audit did not change the state’s final results and Georgia’s governor certified presidential electors for Biden Friday.
On Tuesday GOP canvassers in Wayne County refused to certify local results but then changed their position after hours of intense public criticism over Zoom. Then after talking to Trump, they said a day later they were rescinding their previous vote but it was too late.
The state Bureau of Elections said all of Michigan’s 83 counties had sent their certified results to Lansing.
“As in past elections, some jurisdictions made errors in reporting unofficial results on election night,” the staff memo said. “These errors are all attributable to human error in the operation of tools used to report unofficial results, did not affect the actual tabulation of votes and were identified and corrected either prior to or during the county canvass.”
Trump’s campaign is openly floating the notion of trying to get friendly state legislatures to appoint electors who would overturn the will of the voters.
The Michigan Legislature would be called to select electors if Trump succeeds in convincing the state’s board of canvassers not to certify Biden’s victory in the state.
Trump met with Michigan Republican state lawmakers at White House Friday.
Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and House Speaker Lee Chatfield, both Republicans, released a statement after meeting Trump, saying they weren’t aware of any information that would change the results in Michigan.
Biden defeated Trump by more than 150,000 votes, according to unofficial returns.