Read the original article: The State Laws Governing Trump’s Power Grab in Michigan
On Monday, Nov. 23, the Michigan Board of State Canvassers will meet to decide whether to certify the Michigan election, which President-elect Joe Biden won by 155,629 votes at latest count. After the state of Georgia having certified its election result last week, Michigan is now ground zero in President Trump’s efforts to throw out the legitimate result of the election.
Michigan’s Wayne County—home to the heavily Black and Democratic city of Detroit, which powered Biden’s win in the state—made headlines last week. On Wednesday, Nov. 18, the two Republican members on the Wayne County Board of Canvassers threatened to block election certification, citing baseless allegations of voter fraud. They reversed course later that evening, but have since sought to “rescind” their certifications. According to a spokeswoman for Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, “there is no legal mechanism for them to rescind their vote[.] Their job is done, and the next step in the process is for the Board of State Canvassers to meet and certify.”
There are murmurs of similar lawlessness at the Board of State Canvassers meeting on Monday. Norman Shinkle, one of the two Republican members of the statewide board, told the Washington Post that he is leaning towards asking for a delay in the certification vote and calling for an audit—citing “potential problems” with the election process and debunked claims that Dominion Voting Systems, a voting machine manufacturer, deleted thousands of Trump votes. Shinkle told the Post that his duties as a board member go beyond certifying the election and require him to “check into some of these [unsubstantiated] accusations.” He has reportedly been bombarded with phone calls and emails from Trump supporters urging him not to approve the election results.
So will this effort be successful? Below is a brief primer on the relevant state law governing the Board of State Canvassers. It doesn’t look good for Trump.
What is the Board of State Canvassers?
Article II, Section 7 of the Michigan Constitution establishes the State Board of Canvassers, and specifies that the board shall be bipartisan and consist of four members. State law specifies that members of the board are appointed by the governor, confirmed by the state Senate, and serve for four years. The governor selects an appointee from a list of candidates provided to her by the state central committees of “each of the major parties.”
The board derives most of its authority from a collection of state statutes. It is to canvass—or tally—votes and determine the result of elections for president and vice president. The board also performs a host of other functions, including tallying and certifying the result of state and local elections and determining the sufficiency of petitions for statewide ballot proposals and measures to amend the state constitution.
The Board of State Canvassers works closely with local election officials to certify the results of an election. First, a county board of canvassers—for example, the Wayne County Board of Canvassers—tallies the results of the election in its jurisdiction. The county board then forwards its results to the Board of State Canvassers, which tabulates votes cast for candidates from all the county boards of canvassers, certifies the statewide result—or it least, it does so in ordinary times—and delivers “the statement and certificate of determination” to the secretary of state.
It’s the last part of this process that Shinkle seems to be targeting: by making certification contingent upon an audit, he threatens to delay certification of the results of the presidential election, as well as other state elections<
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Read the original article: The State Laws Governing Trump’s Power Grab in Michigan