2 Michigan GOP election board members try to 'rescind' Detroit-area vote certification

People count ballots in Detroit. — (Image credit: Getty Images)

The two Republicans on the four-member Wayne County Board of Canvassers, the election board in Michigan's most populous county, took the very unusual step Tuesday evening of voting against certifying the county's results in the presidential race. After nearly three hours of impassioned community blowback — and a tweet from President Trump applauding their "courage" — the two GOP board members, chairwoman Monica Palmer and William Hartmann, relented.

On Wednesday evening, Palmer and Hartmann signed affidavits trying to "rescind" their yes votes. They can't, said board vice chairman Jonathan Kinloch, a Democrat. "That vote was final," he told Nick Corasaniti of The New York Times late Wednesday. "That vote was binding."

The deadline for certification is up, and Wayne County's is signed, sealed, and delivered, Kinloch said.

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Kinloch and Palmer had reached a compromise Tuesday that the board would certify the results and then ask Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) conduct an audit of Wayne County's results. Benson said she didn't see the audit request as binding, and Palmer told The Washington Post she "felt misled."

Palmer and Hartmann cited small discrepancies between the number of people who voted and number of ballots received in Detroit, which sometimes happens in elections. People accused Palmer of acting in bad faith after she suggested certifying all other parts of Wayne County — including Livonia, which is 95 percent white and had an equally out-of-balance poll book — except Detroit, which is 80 percent Black.

Trump, who's trying to delay vote certifications in Michigan and a handful of other states he lost, "was furious Wednesday morning about the decision by election officials in Wayne County" to certify the results, the Post reports. But Palmer told the Post she and Hartmann weren't buckling to pressure from the White House, and "we always knew that the margin of victory was such that it was not going to change the result."

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.