Another blow to Trump as Michigan certifies Biden victory
Nov 24, 2020
Michigan [US], November 24 : The Michigan Board of State Canvassers certified the state's results in the US Elections showing President-elect defeating President Donald Trump in the presidential race.
According to
, the four-member panel voted 3-0 to certify the results from 83 counties in the state that "further formalised" Biden's victory in wake of Trump's efforts to challenge the election results. Biden leads Trump by more than 150,000 votes in the state.
Aaron Van Langevelde, the Republican vice-chairperson of the board, voted with its two Democratic members, Chairwoman Jeannette Bradshaw and Julie Matuzak, to certify the results. Norman Shinkle, the other Republican member, abstained.
"We have a clear legal duty to certify the results of the election as shown by the returns that were given to us. We cannot and should not go beyond that," Langevelde said in closing remarks before the vote and added, "John Adams once said, 'We are a government of laws, not men,' and this board must adhere to that principle today."
further reported that under Michigan law, an audit is conducted after the results of an election are certified, a point emphasised by a number of those who testified on Monday.
"Those who question the outcome, the remedy comes after you say yes," Christopher Thomas, former Michigan director of elections, told board members in virtual testimony at the outset of the meeting.
The certification triggers the selection of electors who are sent to meet with the rest of the electoral college on December 14.
Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and Michigan Republican Party Chairwoman Laura Cox had requested an audit and investigation into alleged voting "irregularities".
But there has been no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Michigan or across the US despite Trump's claims. The President, who had falsely claimed that he had won the election, has now mounted efforts in Pennsylvania, Michigan and other states to challenge voting procedures but he achieved no success.
A judge had rejected a Republican effort to block Wayne County from certifying the results. The Trump campaign withdrew its final lawsuit last week that claimed that the Wayne County Board of Canvassers declined to certify the presidential election results.
Two leaders from Michigan's GOP (alternate name for the Republican Party) legislature faced backlash last week when they travelled to the nation's capital, to meet with Trump and post meeting, they said that they had "not seen evidence that would change the election result in Michigan".
"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 the normal process regarding Michigan's electors, just as we have said throughout this election," state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and Speaker of the Michigan state House Lee Chatfield said in a joint statement, as quoted by
.
"Michigan's certification process should be a deliberate process free from threats and intimidation," they added.
Georgia also certified Biden's win last week and Pennsylvania is expected to certify its results showing Biden as the victor.
Biden is being projected as the winner of the Presidential elections by various media outlets in the US after he clinched the state of Pennsylvania to take him past the required 270 electoral college vote mark.