Republican Michigan state Sens. Lana Theis and Tom Barrett called on Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson Thursday to do a complete audit before the election results are certified.
“Every citizen deserves to have faith in the integrity of the election process and its outcome,” the letter reads. “It is our responsibility, as elected public servants, to assure the people of Michigan of the process’s integrity through complete transparency and the faithful investigation of any allegations of wrongdoing, fraud, or abuse.”
INBOX: Michigan GOP state senators are requesting a full audit of the 2020 General Election. pic.twitter.com/yd9GcDg5QU
— Chris Pandolfo (@ChrisCPandolfo) November 12, 2020
“Unfortunately, a number of serious allegations have been made which cannot and should not be ignored,” the letter continued, citing a “glitch” in Antrim county along with allegations of “mishandled” ballots. The letter also cites allegations that poll watchers were not allowed to observe the ballot process.
Antrim County, a traditionally Republican county that initially flipped blue this election flipped back to red after a manual recount of votes found thousands of votes meant for President Donald Trump accidentally went for Joe Biden. The county uses “Dominion Voting System,” which is also used in 64 counties across the state. Benson’s office said the skewed results were due to “county user error” and not the software itself. (RELATED: Ric Grenell: Trump Campaign Is ‘Not Being Allowed To Check’ Ballots At Nevada Polling Stations)
RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said there were election irregularities in Detroit’s ballot counting center, TCF Center. She said there were reports that poll watchers were challenged and intimidated and that ballot counters were backdating ballots, according to Fox 2.
However, those claims have been refuted by Benson, the ACLU and senior election advisor to Detroit Chris Thomas, per the same report.
Thomas said a clerical error occurred when the ballot envelopes were received in satellite offices. Employees stamped the envelopes with a date of receipt, which was entered into the system. Thomas said that is not backdating, per Fox 2.
The Trump campaign has filed multiple lawsuits in the state, with the most recent suit also seeking to block Benson from certifying the results on the grounds that the state ran an unconstitutional election. The suit also seeks to give campaign officials the opportunity to review counted ballots in Wayne County.
The campaign filed a suit shortly after Election Day seeking to stop the counting of mail-in votes. However, Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Cynthia Stevens rejected the suit, ruling that the demands of the campaign can’t be met by Benson since the process of counting ballots was nearly completed.
The campaign presented an affidavit from a local election official who claimed she was instructed to backdate the ballot. Stevens rejected the claim as “hearsay.”