Two Republican officials who opposed certifying the election result in Detroit before backing down are now trying to rescind their vote, The Associated Press reports.
Monica Palmer and William Hartmann, the two Republican members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, on Tuesday tried to block the certification of the results in Detroit.
Palmer said that she would be willing to certify the vote in "communities other than Detroit," arguing that there were minor discrepancies between the number of voters who signed in and the number of ballots cast.
After receiving immense criticism from members of the public over the course of a multi-hour virtual meeting, Hartmann and Palmer ultimately backed down and voted to certify the results.
Now they want to rescind:
A day later, Palmer and Hartmann issued a statement backtracking again after receiving a call from President Donald Trump.
The two said they only changed their vote after "hours of sustained pressure” and "intimidation, deception, and threats of violence."
The pair said they “remain opposed to the certification.”
But Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said it was already too late.
“There is no legal mechanism for them to rescind their vote. Their job is done and the next step in the process is for the Board of State Canvassers to meet and certify,” a spokeswoman for Benson told the AP.
Mayor disputes vote claim:
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan disputed Palmer’s claim about the votes in his city, arguing that the "idea that the out-of-balance precincts reflects any problem with the voting is utter nonsense."
"At the end of the night, you add up the number of people who are reported in the poll book as having voted and the number of ballots,” he said, according to the Detroit Free Press. Sometimes votes are not properly scanned and other times voters can request a new ballot if they made a mistake.
That does not mean there is “any indication of any voter fraud,” he said.
