2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumPalmer Report update:Michigan recount:officials admit majority of Detroit precincts have incorrect
Michigan recount: officials admit majority of Detroit precincts have incorrect ballot totalsJust one day after a federal judge ordered that the state of Michigan recount its ballots in the 2016 presidential election to check for accuracy, officials are now claiming they cant recount the ballots in the most pivotal city, because they screwed up the process too thoroughly the first time around. In fact, by their own admission, the majority of precincts in Detroit had ballot totals in the precinct poll books which didnt match those of the voting machines.
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http://www.palmerreport.com/?p=404
Madam45for2923
(7,178 posts)Bizarre!
NWCorona
(8,541 posts)from the recount and the original totals to be used instead.
JustinL
(722 posts)In Bush v Gore, the Supreme Court ruled that ballots cannot be subjected to "arbitrary and disparate treatment" during the recount process. I'm having a really hard time discerning any sort of rational basis for excluding these precincts from the recount.
KewlKat
(5,652 posts)And yet, as of this moment, Michigan is flat out insisting that the ballots in 392 of the 662 precincts in Detroit simply cant be recounted. As if to bluntly underscore the embarrassing nature of the Michigan 2016 election situation, the elections director for the city of Detroit admitted to local newspaper The Detroit News that Its not good and went on to explain that eighty-seven vote counting machines broke on election day. This should come as news to the federal judge who already mandated that the recount take place; if he chooses to, he can rule that the Michigan laws covering this matter are unconstitutional, and force these votes to be recounted in accordance with his original ruling.
Madam45for2923
(7,178 posts)TheBlackAdder
(28,947 posts)yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)I think they need to investigate what the heck happened in Detroit. Talk about voter disenfranchisement. This is wrong wrong wrong!
AgadorSparticus
(7,963 posts)Coyotl
(15,262 posts)FBaggins
(27,740 posts)Just look at the ongoing recount in WI as an example. It isn't uncommon for one out of every four or five precincts to have a small correction (usually one or two votes). It can almost always be reconciled in a recount... but in MI it blocks the recount!
It's likely that the issue will be moot (though still fodder for conspiracy theories) soon... but that law needs to be corrected.