Biden victory certified by Michigan’s largest county after Trump bragged about blocking results

Local university vice president eviscerates Republican board members in epic takedown during public Zoom meeting

Michigan’s largest county unanimously certified election results showing Democrat Joe Biden defeating Donald Trump, with Republicans backtracking after first blocking formal approval of the tally of ballots cast.

The initial move was widely condemned by Democrats, election experts, and online spectators at a fiery Zoom meeting of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers.

State vote certification is usually a routine task, but the actions of the two Republican members of the board were described as a dangerous attempt to block the results of a free and fair election with allegations of “blatant racism” levelled at them.

“We depend on democratic norms, including that the losers graciously accept defeat. That seems to be breaking down,” said Joshua Douglas, a law professor at the University of Kentucky.

The Michigan Republican party sent out a press release bragging about the initial outcome. Chair Laura Cox said: “I am proud that, due to the efforts of the Michigan Republican Party, the Republican National Committee, and the Trump Campaign, enough evidence of irregularities and potential voter fraud was uncovered resulting in the Wayne County Board of Canvassers refusing to certify their election results. This action will allow more time for us to get to the bottom of these deeply troubling irregularities.”

Yvonne White, president of the Michigan state conference of the NAACP described the move as “racism, pure and simple”.

In a statement, she said: “It is no accident that these accusations are hurled against Wayne County; this is home to the City of Detroit and the largest concentration of Black voters in the state.”

Trump allies have spent days filing ultimately unsuccessful lawsuits in Michigan. They claimed fraud during absentee ballot counting at a Detroit convention center, but two judges found no evidence and refused to stop the process.

With the Trump team’s legal challenges as background, the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, consisting of two Republicans and two Democrats, met on Tuesday.

Monica Palmer, a Republican, argued that poll books in certain precincts in Detroit were out of balance. Jonathan Kinloch, a Democrat on the panel, countered that any discrepancies were the result of “human error”.

He said it was “reckless and irresponsible” to not certify the results.

Michigan Democratic Party chair Lavora Barnes called the initial 2-2 vote “blatant racism”.

Mr Trump celebrated the initial developments in Michigan, tweeting, “Having courage is a beautiful thing.”

There is no evidence of widespread voting fraud in any other state. Federal and state officials from both parties have declared the 2020 election safe and secure.

At the board’s Zoom meeting on Tuesday, spectators were quick to condemn both Ms Palmer and fellow Republican William Hartmann.

The Reverend Wendell Anthony, a well-known pastor and head of the Detroit branch of the NAACP, called their actions a “disgrace.”

“You have extracted a Black city out of a county and said the only ones that are at fault is the city of Detroit, where 80 per cent of the people who reside here are African Americans. Shame on you!” he said.

Ned Staebler, a vice president at Wayne State University in Detroit, slammed the two board members in an epic takedown, saying, among other things: “The stain of racism that you, William Hartmann and Monica Palmer, have just covered yourself in is going to follow you throughout history.”

Law student and veteran Joseph Zimmerman told the two Republicans “it breaks my heart” to see them undermine the “sacred right” to vote.

Having changed their votes Mr Hartmann said that he didn’t do so because of the intense criticism, but because the board had agreed to ask the secretary of state to investigate Detroit’s election results.

“Glad to see common sense prevailed in the end,” Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said after the Wayne County reversal. “Thank you to all those citizens who spoke up so passionately. You made the difference!”

Mr Biden overwhelmed Mr Trump in Wayne County, a Democratic stronghold, by more than a two-to-one margin and won Michigan by 146,000 votes, according to the Associated Press.

Certification of the results for Wayne County propels the Democrat toward formal victory in Michigan. Once all of the state’s 83 counties have had their results certified the Michigan Board of State Canvassers will formalise the result of the whole state and award the 16 electoral colleges votes to Mr Biden.

His victory in the state put him on a clear path to the 270 electoral college votes needed to win the White House.

However, Republicans are also trying to halt formal certification of the election results in other key battleground states including Arizona, Nevada, and Pennsylvania.

On Wednesday morning Mr Trump was still insisting that he won Michigan.

With reporting from the Associated Press