GOP asks Michigan not to certify election results, citing ‘irregularities’

The move follows speculation that Trump is seeking to persuade Michigan Republicans to override election results

Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel is interviewed on ABC’s ‘This Week’ (ABC News)

The Republican Party’s national chair and her state-level counterpart in Michigan have called for the state to not certify its election results, citing unsubstantiated claims of “irregularities.”

The move comes after Donald Trump invited Republican legislators from Michigan to the White House on Friday as part of a broad and meandering effort to overturn the results of the election in the electoral college.

A statement from GOP chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and Michigan HOP chair Laura Cox called on the state’s board of canvassers, whose job it is to certify the results of the election, to instead “adjourn for fourteen days to allow for a full audit and investigation” into what they claimed were "anomalies and irregularities.”

Michigan law states that election audits can only take place after certification. Despite repeated vague claims from the president and his supporters, there has been no evidence of widespread election fraud in Michigan or anywhere.

Mr Trump began attacking the integrity of the 2020 election before a vote had even been cast, claiming without evidence that mail-in ballots would be used for fraud.

He made similar claims of a “rigged” election in the run-up to his victorious 2016 presidentia run, and against his Republican opponents during that year’s primary campaign. None of those claims were substantiated.

“This board faces a stark choice: it can either ignore numerical anomalies and credible reports of procedural irregularities, leaving the distrust and sense of procedural disenfranchisement felt by many Michigan voters to fester for years; or it can adjourn for fourteen days to allow for a full audit and investigation into those anomalies and irregularities before certifying the results of the 2020 General Election, allowing all Michiganders to have confidence in the results,” the statement from the two GOP chairs said. 

The letter specifically mentions Wayne County, which became the subject of controversy this week when two Republican canvassers briefly refused to certify the county’s results, claiming too many counties were “unbalanced” — that is the total number of ballots tabulated and the total number of voters who were issued a ballot do not match.

But a report from the Michigan Bureau of Elections found that balancing — usually a minor procedural error — was better this year than in the previous two elections. 

The two canvassers eventually changed their minds and certified the results, only to change them again later that day and try to rescind their certification following a phone call from Donald Trump. 

A group of Michigan Republicans including the state’s house speaker Lee Chatfield and senate majority leader Mike Shirkey met with the president on Friday afternoon. Following the meeting, they released a statement saying they would  “follow the law” when it comes to certifying presidential election results.

“We have not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan and as legislative leaders we will follow the law and follow the normal process regarding Michigan’s electors, just as we have said throughout this election,” the officials said in a statement.

“Michigan’s certification process should be a deliberate process free from threats and intimidation.”