Two Republican members of a Michigan canvassing board tried to block the vote in the Detroit area from being certified, but they reversed their decision after public outcry. It happened during a wild meeting with the Wayne County Board of Canvassers Tuesday night. The New York Times writes that at one point “a Republican board member, Monica Palmer, had made a motion to ‘certify the results in the communities other than the city of Detroit.’”
Mark Brewer, an election law expert and a former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, noted that Ms. Palmer’s motion would have blocked certification for Detroit, where Black residents make up 78 percent of the population, and certified the results for communities like Livonia, where the Black population is 4.4 percent.
“Monica Palmer sat there and said she’s willing to approve the results of the lily-white city of Livonia, which had the second-highest number of out-of-balance precincts, but she won’t certify the city of Detroit,” Mr. Brewer said. “There is no reason to single out the city of Detroit for this racist treatment.”
The Detroit Free-Press writes: “Public commenters who spoke during the meeting accused the board’s Republican members of disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of voters — particularly African-American voters — in initially refusing to certify the election.” It’s worth listening to what some members of the public said to the board.
“You are a disgrace.” Rev Wendell Anthony says today’s decision dishonors veterans and all those who have been left out and miscounted for generations. @wxyzdetroit pic.twitter.com/MOmtW6NFjx
— Jennifer Ann Wilson WXYZ (@JennaWils) November 18, 2020
https://twitter.com/raywert/status/1328856173513150464?s=10
When it looked like the board would not be certifying the votes, Donald Trump and allies were celebrating.
Wow! Michigan just refused to certify the election results! Having courage is a beautiful thing. The USA stands proud!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2020
But around the same time, Trump fired off that tweet the Republican board members reversed course and certified the votes.
https://twitter.com/marceelias/status/1328884933365010433
Watch more from the ABC affiliate in Detroit above.