More than three dozen Hamtramck voters have been disenfranchised after three non-election officials walked into the city clerk’s sealed office on election night, compromising the security of absentee ballots that were mistakenly left there.
The Wayne County Board of Canvassers deadlocked Friday on whether to count the 37 ballots, which were discovered in that office the day after Election Day, having been opened but not removed from their envelopes. Because the board didn’t have a majority of votes in favor of counting them, the ballots will not be included in the final tallies of the election.
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It’s not clear whether officials at any level are obligated to tell those 37 voters about the fate of their ballots. Greg Mahar, Wayne County’s director of elections, said he wasn’t aware of any requirements around that. State officials said they weren’t aware of any regulations on that either.
Those uncounted ballots could have been pivotal for the result of the closely contested, open-seat mayoral election in the city, which borders Detroit. According to unofficial results, engineer Adam Alharbi currently leads City Council member Muhith Mahmood in the race by only 11 votes.
At issue in the canvassing board’s deliberations was the ballots’ chain of custody, which must be maintained to ensure the results of the election are accurate and legitimate. Clerk’s offices are sealed around the time of elections, meaning only election officials come into and out of places where ballots are stored.
Due to what officials have said was human error by those who were counting absentee ballots on election night, the 37 ballots in question were opened but never counted. Upon noting a discrepancy in the numbers, election officials looked for the ballots, City Clerk Rana Faraj told the canvassers at their meeting Thursday, but did not find them until the next day. Those ballots were then sealed in a secure envelope and brought to the county.
But the clerk and her team later realized that three other city officials, including interim City Manager Alex Lagrou, walked into the office late on election night, Faraj said. That broke the chain of custody of those ballots, casting doubt onto whether they could be counted.
It’s uncertain why Lagrou and the other officials entered the office. Lagrou could not be reached for comment Friday. It’s not clear who the other non-election officials were.
Becki Carmargo, assistant corporation counsel for Wayne County, told the canvassers on Friday that the board had precedent to reject the ballots based on similar cases in the past. She recommended that the ballots be rejected.
The Democrats on the board, Richard Preuss and Edward Keelean, both argued the votes should be counted. Preuss, the board’s vice chair, said he would like to see affidavits or sworn testimony from the officials who entered the office, because “throwing out votes without having evidence is reckless.”
“I haven’t seen any evidence saying there’s any fraud,” he said, “and to say that these 37 don’t count because of an allegation of potential fraud is completely contrary to this board’s sworn duty.”
Lisa Capatina, a Republican and the chair of the board, argued that such an investigation would be outside of the power of the canvassers. The canvassers are ministerial, she said, meaning their primary job is to confirm the election results.
The canvassers ultimately voted along party lines, and the 2-2 deadlock means the ballots will not be counted.
The mayoral election now hinges on 120 cured ballots tabulated during the canvasser’s meeting Thursday. Those will be taken into the count on Tuesday as the board finalizes the canvas.
Mahmood, the currently trailing mayoral candidate, told Votebeat before the meeting that he hoped the canvassers “did the right thing.”
“At the end of the day, those are people’s votes,” he said. He declined to comment further after the meeting.
Hayley Harding is a reporter for Votebeat based in Michigan. Contact Hayley at hharding@votebeat.org.
