Michigan Certifies Election Results Despite GOP Push for Delay
The Michigan Board of State Canvassers voted to certify the state’s election results on Monday, despite a push by local Republican leaders to audit the results.
The Board, which is tasked with overseeing various state and national elections, is made up of two Democratic and two Republican officials. Three of those members, including Republican Aaron Van Langevelde, voted to certify the 2020 election results, while Republican Norm Shinkle abstained.
“We have a clear legal duty to certify the results of the election, as shown by the returns that were given to us,” Van Langevelde said, in comments reported by the Detroit Free News. “We cannot and should not go beyond that. As John Adams once said, ‘We are a government of laws, not men.’”
Shinkle called for Michigan’s state legislature, currently held by Republicans, to audit the results.
“I do not plan on voting for certification. I believe Wayne County’s certification needs to be looked at,” Shinkle said, citing controversy over the approval process for the county’s elections.
Charlie Spies, a lawyer for Republican Senate candidate John James, also backed an audit. James narrowly lost to Democratic incumbent Senator Gary Peters.
However, Van Langevelde said that state election rules contained “nothing that gives us the authority to review complaints for fraud.”
President Trump and allies have claimed that Joe Biden and Democrats “stole” the election by means of widespread voter fraud. However, the Trump campaign has not contested enough ballots to overturn election results. The campaign has already dropped a lawsuit aiming to contest the election results in Michigan because the campaign did not present evidence of widespread fraud.
