U.S. state of Michigan on Monday certified Democrat Joe Biden’s emphatic victory over President Trump, further making Trump’s attempt not to concede a futile effort.
The Board of State Canvassers, which has two Republicans and two Democrats, confirmed the results on a 3-0 vote with one abstention.
The result showed that Biden beat Trump by 154,000 votes.
Trump and his allies had embarked on brazen attempts to subvert the results.
Allies of Trump and losing GOP Senate candidate John James had urged the panel to delay voting for two weeks to audit votes in heavily Democratic Wayne County, home to Detroit.
The certification is another setback in Trump’s efforts to use unconventional means to undermine the results of the Nov. 3 election.
It comes even after he made direct overtures to Republican officials in the state by inviting them to the White House last week.
Under Michigan law, Biden claims all 16 electoral votes. Biden won by 2.8 percentage points — a larger margin than in other states where Trump is contesting the results like Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
Michigan’s Board of State Canvassers certified the results despite calls by Trump and allies to block the vote to allow for an audit of ballots in heavily Democratic Wayne County, home to Detroit, where Trump has claimed without evidence that he was the victim of fraud.
“The board’s duty today is very clear,” said Aaron Van Langevelde, the Republican vice chair.
“We have a duty to certify this election based on these returns. That is very clear. We are limited to these returns. I’m not going to argue that we’re not.”
Mary Ellen Gurewitz, an attorney for the state Democratic Party, told the canvassers that attacks on the election results “are part of a racist campaign, directed by soon-to-be former President Trump, to disparage the cities in this country with large Black populations, including Detroit, Philadelphia and Milwaukee.”
Biden crushed the president by more than 330,000 votes in Wayne County, where two local GOP canvassers who certified the results unsuccessfully tried to reverse course last week after being called by Trump.
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, has said an audit must wait until after statewide certification because only then would officials have legal access to documentation needed to conduct such a review.
Michigan’s elections bureau has recommended that the Nov. 3 results be certified. – Agency report.
