Republican Party moves to replace GOP board member who voted to certify Michigan election
LANSING – The Republican who withstood partisan pressure and voted to certify the results of the Nov. 3 election in Michigan says he is not surprised the GOP has not nominated him for another term on the Board of State Canvassers.
“Time will tell that those who spread misinformation and tried to overturn the election were wrong, and they should be held responsible for the chaos and confusion they have caused,” Aaron Van Langevelde said in a Monday statement.
In a decisive Michigan setback to efforts by Republican President Donald Trump and some of his supporters to overturn Democratic President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, Van Langevelde broke with his fellow Republican board member on Nov. 23 and voted with two other Democratic board members to certify Michigan’s election results.
Van Langevelde’s rejection of false and unproven claims of widespread voter fraud, which had earlier been rejected by judges at the state and federal level, allowed the results to be certified in a 3-0-1, vote, with one abstention, and ended any doubts that Michigan’s 16 electoral votes would go to Biden.
But the action angered many in the party who supported Trump’s efforts to disenfranchise millions of voters and overturn the election.
Van Langevelde is a staff attorney and policy adviser for the state House Republican Caucus. His term on the board — which by law is comprised of two Republicans and two Democrats chosen by the governor from party nominees — expires at the end of this month.
Rather than proposing that he serve another term, Michigan Republican Party Chairwoman Laura Cox, in a Jan. 8 letter to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, proposed that Whitmer choose his replacement from three names she submitted: Tony Daunt of DeWitt, Tori Sachs of Williamston and Linda Lee Tarver of Lansing.
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Tarver, a member of Black Voices for Trump, was a plaintiff in an unsuccessful suit filed directly with the Michigan Supreme Court, alleging fraud related to absentee ballots and seeking to overturn the election results. But both Daunt and Sachs have publicly rejected claims that the election was stolen from Trump.
Asked why Van Langevelde was not nominated for another term on the board, Michigan Republican Party spokesman Tony Zammit said: “Mr. Van Langevelde did not request to be considered for reappointment to the State canvassing board.”
In a Monday statement, Van Langevelde said his “conscience is clear, and I am confident that my decision is on the right side of the law and history.” He added: “It comes as no surprise that I was not re-nominated to the Board of Canvassers after I voted to certify the presidential election.”
He said the events of November highlight the dangers of hyper-partisanship.
“As tensions escalated, some political leaders — blinded by power and partisanship —urged the board to withhold certification based on unproven allegations of voter fraud, even though we had no legal authority to do so.”
The board “was essentially asked to disregard the oath of office, to abandon its long-standing ministerial role certifying elections, and to ignore a clear legal duty along with 100 years of legal precedent,” he said. “We were asked to take power we didn’t have.”
Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4. Read more on Michigan politics and sign up for our elections newsletter.
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