December 22, 2023
Detroit — Newly released recordings reviewed by the Detroit News and shared by Politico reveal alleged attempts to delay the certification of the 2020 election results. In response, All Voting Is Local State Director Ashiya Brown released the following statement:
“The 2020 election results were counted and certified despite attempts to delay certification. Since 2020, Governor Whitmer, Secretary Benson, and the Michigan Legislature have only strengthened election protections by passing laws that expand access to the ballot and further clarify the roles, responsibilities, and requirements of the board of state canvassers, including SB 529, which explicitly outlines election certification requirements. The will of the people must be upheld. We will continue to advocate for policies that strengthen our elections and protect voters.”
Background: The quotes from the recording included in the Politico article reveal alleged attempts to delay the 2020 election certification process. Noted in the article: “We’ve got to fight for our country,” Trump told Palmer and Hartmann in the recordings. “We can’t let these people take our country away from us,” he said, telling them that they would look “terrible” if they signed the documents to certify the election.
Now passed into law, SB 529 includes the following under Section 824 (4), “It is the ministerial, clerical, and nondiscretionary duty of the board of state canvassers, and each of the members of the board of state canvassers, to certify election results based solely on the certified statements of votes from counties.”