US election results: Wayne County, Michigan certification drama after Trump phone call

Donald Trump has sensationally intervened in the aftermath of the Michigan election, with the certification of results now in doubt again.

Andrew Backhouse

@andytwit123

3 min read

November 20, 2020 - 9:48AM

Moment Rudy Giuliani’s hair dye runs down his face during press conference

Two Republican officials have declared they want to rescind their decision to certify election results in Michigan after an extraordinary phone call from US President Donald Trump.

The move comes after a rollercoaster series of events in Detroit, where two Democrats and two Republicans were deadlocked on whether to certify the largely Democratic results of Detroit.

The GOP board members in Wayne County threw the normally typical election certification process into chaos on Tuesday, leaving it deadlocked.

They later voted unanimously to certify the results following hours of public pressure and complaints they were disenfranchising thousands of voters in the majority-African American city of Detroit.

Then, sensationally, Wayne County Republican board members Monica Palmer and William Hartmann, sent sworn affidavits to the county’s attorney, disavowing their previous votes to certify the results.

But it could be too late to change their decision.

Michigan Secretary of State spokeswoman Tracy Wimmer told CNN there was 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.”

President Donald Trump reportedly called Monica Palmer, a GOP board member in Wayne County. Picture: Brendan Smialowski/AFP

Ms Palmer told the Washington Post she received a roughly two-minute call from the President.

“I did receive a call from President Trump, late Tuesday evening, after the meeting,” Palmer told the Post. “He was checking in to make sure I was safe after hearing the threats and doxing that had occurred.”

Asked about her phone call with Mr Trump, Ms Palmer said: “It’s hard for me to describe.

“There was a lot of adrenaline and stress going on. There were general comments about different states but we really didn’t discuss the details of the certification.

She added: “It was not pressure. It was genuine concern for my safety.”

In her affidavit, she said she had received threats against herself and her family, pressuring her to certify the results.

“After the vote, public comment period began and dozens of people made personal remarks against me and Mr Hartmann. The comments made accusations of racism and threatened me and members of my family,” Ms Palmer said.

President-elect Joe Biden beat Mr Trump by more than 150,000 votes to win the state’s 16 electoral college votes.

This morning, former New York Mayor and the man leading Mr Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results, Rudy Giuliani, held a wild press conference, announcing Mr Trump’s campaign had dropped an election-related lawsuit in Michigan.

Rudy Giuliani speaks to the press about various lawsuits related to the 2020 election. Picture: AFP.

The lawsuit had sought to stop the certification of ballots in Wayne County, Michigan.

A lawyer for the Trump campaign said the lawsuit was being withdrawn because the county’s board of canvassers “met and declined to certify the results of the presidential election”.

Mr Giuliani said the decision came “as a direct result of achieving the relief we sought — to stop the election in Wayne County from being prematurely certified before residents can be assured that every legal vote has been counted and every illegal vote has not been counted”.

The lawsuit had promised to unveil “shocking” allegations about the Detroit ballot-counting centre.

Voter Fraud in Detroit is rampant, and has been for many years!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 19, 2020

This morning Mr Trump summoned Michigan’s Republican legislative leaders to the White House for a meeting amid a longshot GOP push to overturn the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the battleground state.

The President also tweeted about Detroit this morning, alleging electoral fraud in the city.

“Voter Fraud in Detroit is rampant, and has been for many years!” he wrote.

Twitter flagged the tweet, noting his claim about election fraud was disputed.