Michigan election results official; canvassers rebuke ‘reckless’ fraud claims

The four-member board composed of two Democrats and two Republicans stood firm, telling commenters their role is ceremonial, and the results were already certified by 83 separate boards representing all of Michigan’s counties.

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They also warned against spreading unproven allegations about election procedure without adequate evidence. 

Tony Daunt, a Republican and the board’s chair, told the audience it’s dangerous to make “reckless accusations” and said there are appropriate avenues to challenge results “that do not involve baseless allegations,” including lawsuits, recount requests and referring claims of illegal activity to law enforcement. 

Republican canvasser Richard Houskamp repeatedly questioned the lack of data from election deniers.

“We have seen with our eyes, touched with our hands, the documents for all 83 counties,” Houskamp said. “We keep hearing allegations of fraud and allegations of mismanagement of an election — this is not what the evidence says.” 

Karamo, who based her campaign on a potpourri of election fraud claims related to the 2020 election prior to losing to Democratic incumbent Jocelyn Benson, challenged the 2022 results based on claims that the state’s qualified voter file wasn’t sufficiently accurate, election equipment wasn’t secure and actions of election officials in some communities were suspect. 

U.S. Taxpayers gubernatorial candidate Donna Brandenburg, who earned 0.4 percent of the vote, also challenged the results, saying “not one of us is going to back down…from now until Christ comes back.”

By law, state canvassers have until Nov. 28 to certify results. It is usually a sleepy process, but following the 2020 election, the step was nearly thrown into chaos. Supporters of former President Donald Trump attempted to overturn election results naming President Joe Biden the winner. 

Ultimately, the board voted 3-1 to certify the results, with Republican Aaron Van Langevelde siding with Democrats to avoid a deadlock that would have sent the matter to the courts and significantly complicated state and federal timelines for codifying election results.