WATCH LIVE: Michigan State Board of Canvassers meets to certify election results
LANSING, Mich. - The Michigan State Board of Canvassers is holding a virtual meeting on Monday where they'll conduct a review of the state's 2020 election results before voting to certify them.
Michigan's canvassing board's vote is among the final steps to certifying the election and on most occasions is a routine measure.
But if tensions from a previous county canvassing board's certification last week is any indication of how Nov. 23's vote goes, there will be immense pressure on the board's four members. FOX 2 will stream the virtual meeting online, which is expected to begin at 1 p.m.
An itinerary of the state canvassing board meeting listed an agenda that includes:
- Considering of meeting movements for approval
- Canvass and certification of the 2020 general election
- Recording results of the special election in Michigan's 4th District
The public is also invited to speak. Individuals who request time will have three minutes to address the board.
There are four members on the state canvassing board - two Democrats and two Republicans. A majority vote is needed to certify the election results. Last week, an initial 2-2 tie to certify Wayne County's election results carried a media firestorm with members of the public chastizing Republicans on the board for voting not to certify the election. They eventually voted to certify the election later that day.
So far, one Republican has indicated he may vote against certifying the election. Norm Shinkle, an Ingham County former state Senator has said in a previous interview he believes a statewide audit of the election could be necessary before voting to certify it.
State and national GOP leaders Laura Cox and Ronna McDaniel also requested on Saturday a statewide audit, hoping for a 14-day suspension for certifying the vote.
However, state law also prohibits any audit of ballots, ballot boxes, or other voting equipment until 30 days after the certification. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson affirmed that detail in a tweet last week.
Republicans have lobbied hard for a delay in certifying the votes, arguing that claims of poll watcher harassment, election equipment technology glitches, and out-of-balance ballot totals in Detroit added up to election irregularities that need to be investigated.
However, many of those claims haven't been found to be true. Furthermore, an internal memo from the Secretary of State's office cited recommendations from staff that the Board certifies the results of the election.
"Staff's recommendation is based on the fact that all 83 counties in Michigan have certified their official results," read the memorandum
In the staff recommendation, officials who reviewed the case attributed errors at the polls to "human error in the operation of the tools used to report unofficial results" and that the mistakes "did not affect the actual tabulation of votes, and were identified and corrected either prior to or during the county canvass."
In a specific review of Detroit's out-of-balance ballots, the bureau compared irregularities in the August Primary to the November election, finding almost 20% more precincts were balanced in Wayne County in November than in August, an improvement.
The meeting's entire memo has been published below.