GOP canvassers intended to not certify county’s election results
Two Republicans on the Oakland County Board of Canvassers intended not to certify the county’s election results Tuesday morning before reversing course.
Although the four- member board ultimately certified the county’s elections results by a 4- 0 vote and sent them state canvassers for final certification on Nov. 23, the board’s two GOP members had expressed their intent to not do so.
Joe Rozell, Oakland County elections director, told The Oakland Press that Wilma Cotton, Republican chair of the board, and Bob Copes expressed to him “first thing Tuesday morning” their intent to not sign the certification documents.
“Once I explained the ramifications of their actions, they reconsidered about 15 minutes later,” he said.
Rozell did not elaborate on what those ramifications would be. The Oakland Press has reached out to Gloria HarstenSpann and Charlene Yarbrough, both Democrat canvassers, for
comment.
Neither Cotton nor Copes would confirm whether there had been conversations during the certification process about intentions to not certify the election results.
When asked if those conversations took place, Cotton told The Oakland Press that’s “irrelevant” and “in the past.”
Copes said all of the county’s communities ran “really good elections” and that the issues found during the certification process did not give the board any reason to not certify the results.
“We found no reasons to not certify,” he said. “There was zero evidence of voter fraud found. The issues we found were a result of people being people, just human error that we corrected wherever possible whether it was absentee or precinct.”
Official Oakland County results showed former Vice President Joe Biden winning by 108,177 votes over President Donald Trump, 434,148 to 325,971.
Rozell said the canvassing process went well and
that no significant or unusual irregularities were discovered during the twoweek certification of the county’s election results.
Following the certification, the county’s vote total changed by less than 300 votes, which was due in large part to provisional ballots. These ballots are used to record votes when there are questions about a voter’s eligibility that must be resolved before the vote can count.
The four-member county board of canvassers is composed of two Democrats and two Republicans. Every two years, two seats are up for appointment, one from each party. As required by state law, the Oakland County Republican and Democratic parties submit six candidates, three each, to the county board of commissioners for consideration.
The commissioners then review the recommendations and appoints two members to the board, with each serving four-year terms.
Cotton and Yarbrough’s terms expire Oct. 31, 2021, while Copes and HarstenSpann’s expire Oct. 31, 2023.
In Wayne County, the board’s two Republican
canvassers, Monica Palmer and William Hartmann, initially voted Tuesday night to not certify the results due to concerns over unbalanced precincts, but then changed course and voted to certify the results. Their initial “no” vote was followed by public outcry, which many called “racist” and one that disenfranchised Black voters in Detroit.
On Thursday, both Palmer and Hartmann sought, again, to rescind their vote.
They alleged, in affidavits signed Wednesday night and obtained by The Washington Post, that they were improperly pressured into certifying the election Tuesday and accused Democrats of reneging on a promise to audit votes in Detroit.
In a message to The Washington Post, Palmer said she received a call from President Trump late Tuesday evening following the board meeting, and after the board had already voted to certify the county’s election results.
“He was checking in to make sure I was safe after hearing the threats and doxxing that had occurred,” said Palmer.
Tracy Wimmer, spokes
person for the Secretary of State’s Office, told The Oakland Press there are “no legal mechanisms” for the GOP canvassers to rescind their vote at this point.
“Their job is done and the next step in the process is for the Board of State Canvassers to meet and certify,” she said.
Every one of Michigan’s 83 counties have certified their election results. The state will certify those results on Nov. 23.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson posted to Twitter on Thursday that a “voluntary” and “proactive” statewide risklimiting audit will be performed after the Board of State Canvassers certifies the results to confirm the integrity of the state’s election systems and to identify areas for future improvement.
“The statewide risk-limiting audit will be accompanied by the routine local procedural audits that will review the accuracy and process of elections in local communities, as also was carried out following the November 2019 election and the May 2020 election,” she wrote. “Notably, audits are neither designed to address nor performed in response to false or mythical allegations of irregularities that have no basis in fact.”
In March, after the state’s presidential primary, Benson said a statewide risklimiting audit was conducted for the first time, which showed election results were accurate.
“Where evidence exists of actual fraud or wrongdoing, it should be submitted in writing to the Bureau of Elections,” wrote Benson. “The Bureau of Elections then refers all credible allegations to the Michigan Attorney General for further investigation.”