Michigan board certifies 2022 election as ex-candidates spread false claims

LANSING, MI — After a heated and momentarily chaotic meeting, a bipartisan Michigan board unanimously certified the state’s midterm election results.

Michigan’s post-election atmosphere had not been as turbulent as 2020 until Monday, as losing candidates spread conspiracy theories to the Board of State Canvassers and testified — with no evidence — to widespread election fraud.

Republican Kristina Karamo, who lost the Secretary of State race by 600,000 votes, claimed an “unlawful election” but presented no conclusive proof of widespread fraud in the midterms. Instead, she and U.S. Taxpayers Party governor candidate Donna Brandenburg mostly disagreed with election law.

“If you have an issue with policy or the way things are done, there are avenues that do not involve baseless allegations,” said board chair Tony Daunt, a Republican.

The board, two Democrats and two Republicans, is not an investigative body. Michigan law gives the canvassers a routine role of approving election results certified by the 83 counties. (View an example here.)

If someone suspects wrongdoing, Michigan elections director Jonathan Brater said, a candidate can request a recount. Citizens can also request to inspect ballots, tabulator tapes and other public records, or file a lawsuit or police report.

“There is no reason to delay, because, as we’ve repeatedly said, we don’t have any investigatory powers,” Democratic canvasser Mary Ellen Gurewitz told reporters.

Canvassers voted 4-0 to certify the election results Monday. In 2020, a Republican canvasser abstained from the vote, believing there were “serious problems” in Wayne County. But the other Republican voted to certify, preventing an unprecedented deadlock.

“Democracy has prevailed,” Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, tweeted after Monday’s vote.

Related: Election deniers fail in battleground states, but ‘Act III’ awaits in 2024

No state canvasser this year came remotely close to accepting election fraud accusations. Instead, both Republican members shot back at conspiracies.

“It’s incumbent on leaders of both parties, people in this state, people in other states, to not feed the conspiracy – not to make everything a life-or-death situation,” Daunt told reporters.

“Ultimately,” he added, “it’s sad that so many people believe some of these things because they’ve been told to believe it by people they trust.”

Fellow Republican Richard Houskamp assured a public commenter that canvassers have reviewed county submissions and that people can request to physically see the ballots voters used.

“We keep hearing allegations of fraud and allegations of mismanagement of an election,” Houskamp said. “That is not what the evidence says in any of those documents.”

Before the vote, one audience member was ejected during candidate testimony for repeated outbursts toward the canvassers. After police escorted him out, the room briefly escalated into an argument until Articia Bomer – a former congressional candidate — calmed the room with a prayer.

Near the end of the meeting, a Montcalm County woman yelled conspiracy theories at the board and was threatened with removal.

Every county certified its election results with mostly smooth canvasses, Brater told the board. Multiple public speakers, though, noted some problems in Genesee County that led to its county certification vote being 3-1.

Brater thanked clerks and election workers for “great dedication, commitment, excellent work and most of all, integrity.”

Turnout set a record for a midterm election with more than 4.3 million voters. Just over 40% voted absentee, a decline from the just over half who did so in the August primary.

Read more from MLive:

Black Michiganders voted heavily for Dems but were ‘sacrificed’ in representation

Don’t expect any major policy pushes in Michigan legislature’s upcoming lame duck

4 ways to keep holiday spending down as prices go up

Transgender youth 5 times more likely to experience insomnia, study says