Detroit City Wire

In a split vote, the Wayne County Board of Canvassers was unable to certify the Nov. 3 election. 

Laura Cox, chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, said the move was the right one. 

“The people of Michigan deserve to know what happened in Wayne County on Election Day and the days following," Cox said. 

Republicans Monica Palmer and William Hartmann voted against certification while Democrats Jonathan Kinloch and Allen Wilson voted for certification.

Election documentation now must be provided from Wayne County to the Michigan Secretary of State as well as the Board of Canvassers which will have 10 days to certify the election. 

"I am proud that, due to the efforts of the Michigan Republican Party, the Republican National Committee and the Trump Campaign, enough evidence of irregularities and potential voter fraud was uncovered resulting in the Wayne County Board of Canvassers refusing to certify their election results,” Cox said. “This action will allow more time for us to get to the bottom of these deeply troubling irregularities. The people of Michigan deserve fair, open and transparent elections, and we will continue to fight for just that.” 

The failure to certify the election comes after a lawsuit was filed against the City of Detroit, Wayne County and various election entities. 

Jessy Jacob, a long time Wayne County employee who was a whistleblower in a corruption case involving imprisoned former mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, filed an affidavit in the case saying she had been ordered to improperly backdate ballots. 

Jacosb also said county poll workers were openly advocating for and instructing voters on how to vote a straight Democractic Party ticket. 

A bi-partisan group of software engineers said Wayne County's results contain irregularities.