Michigan Republicans refused to certify the vote for several hours last night

Anti-Trump protesters gather in Jupiter

I remember in 2016, when the election was called for Donald Trump, and various Democratic operatives – no one in elected office – began spinning theories about how to slow down the process of certifying the results and more. None of that happened. Democrats around the country in state and local office did their jobs and certified the vote for a fascist lunatic. Four years later, with President-Elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College tally at 306, and with a nearly 6 million-vote advantage over Trump, Biden is in a much better position than Trump was. Except that Republicans throughout the country are now acting on their worst MAGA instincts to suppress the vote after the fact, and to go all-in on Trump’s unhinged, baseless, false claims. In Michigan, sh-t came to a head last night:

At first, it seemed like a win for President Trump’s supporters: The Wayne County Board of Canvassers deadlocked Tuesday night over whether to certify the results of the presidential election in the populous Democratic county, punting the question to a state regulatory board.

In a tweet, Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis called it a “huge win” for the president, who has not conceded the presidential race and who has made false accusations of voter fraud.

But hours later, the board — composed of two Republicans and two Democrats — reversed itself, unanimously agreeing to certify the results and ask the secretary of state to conduct an independent audit. The about-face left Democrats and voting rights advocates cheering.

“I feel elated; I feel like we did the right thing,” said Allen Wilson, one of the board’s Democratic members, as he tried to catch his breath following the late-night twist to the local bureaucratic meeting. The agreement came after two hours of emotional testimony, primarily from those who wanted to see the results certified, and objections from Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and others nationally.

“I appreciate putting our heads together to come to a solution,” Republican board chairwoman Monica Palmer said after the second vote.

[From WaPo]

Monica Palmer said during the first vote that she would not certify the votes in Detroit, which is what won Joe Biden the state of Michigan, the Detroit vote, and hundreds of thousands of Black voters in Michigan. The reversal came only a few hours after this “local” Republican stunt was met with national outrage and statewide condemnation.

This was completely badass. I’ve never seen a man murder two people over Zoom.

Trump Departs for Greenville, NC

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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36 Responses to “Michigan Republicans refused to certify the vote for several hours last night”

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  1. Seraphina says:

    I toasted my morning coffee to Ned Staebler and Michigan’s Governor’s post. The truth is the truth and you cannot bury it no matter how hard you try. and let us not forget:
    “Biden’s Electoral College tally at 306, and with a nearly 6 million-vote advantage over Trump”.

    • Too true. I think Trump’s mouthpiece (pun intended) — Kelly — tweeted when Trump won 4 years ago that that’s a LANDSLIDE. I read a quote yesterday day, where one guy said he wouldn’t relax until Biden took his hand OFF the Bible on Jan. 20, 2021. It’s beginning to sound like the truth isn’t it? I hear Trumps claiming 1 million showed up in DC last Saturday instead of the approx 20,000. No wonder he’s had to declare bankruptcy so many times; the man can’t count.

  2. Teresa says:

    I wish that man could just have a video one on one with so many politicians. I like the bit about their souls when they meet their maker will be very very warm. That’s something that keeps me going. All the Mike Pences of the world who don’t act at all in accordance to the Bible they pretend they love. I just feel the shock at the end of their life will be something else. Christianity is either right and they’re doomed, or the afterlife is based on good works and well… Doomed there too. Or there is nothing and they’ll be remembered as the scum they were.

    • Noodle says:

      @Teresa, I think you’re referring to the Ned Staebler video? Wow. All I can say is wow. Dude can dress someone down with aplomb. I would watch the hell out of him on the talk show “Real Talk with Ned.”

  3. Darla says:

    OMG that picture. LMAO

  4. Nikki* says:

    What does it say about the Republican Party that they wanted to nullify Detroit’s voters? I would not have believed this possible 5 years ago. They have sunk LOWER THAN A SNAKE’S HEINIE and smell worse.

  5. TeamAwesome says:

    That video was so satisfying.

    • Esmom says:

      I know, right? I was practically cheering when I saw it last night, after watching the Michigan situation unfolding in real time. It was scary and such an unbelievable relief when they reversed their decision.

      I’d say this guy Ned needs to chat with a number of Republicans in DC except that unfortunately most of them are incapable of either shame or of doing the jobs they were elected to do.

  6. Edna says:

    Geez. Incredible. What is wrong with these Trumpanzees. Only certify the votes from majority white counties cause those are the only ones that matter. Throw out the majority black county votes. Classic Voter suppression and disenfranchisement.

  7. Aang says:

    The comments to the Governor’s tweet. Ugh. Is Staebler’s zoom background the Diego Rivera murals from the Detroit Institute of Arts?

  8. equality says:

    I googled the Supreme Court decision about not allowing electors to vote against the popular vote to reassure myself. It’s ironic that the Republicans want to claim fraud but all the evidence shows them to be the ones trying to perpetrate fraud.

  9. Smices says:

    The MAGAs really do want to take us back to the 1950’s. Complete with Black people not being able to vote.

    • Betsy says:

      Wrong century. 1850s.

      • SpankyB says:

        Correct century for her point. Black people may have had the “right” to vote in the 1950’s, but that doesn’t mean white people were allowing them to vote. Jim Crow era was real.

      • Anna says:

        Thank you @SpankyB

    • whatWHAT? says:

      I’m sure they’d like to take that right away from women, too.

    • MM2 says:

      @Betsy In 1870 the 15th amendment was passed giving black people the right to vote. But…..do you think they could easily vote? Nope! Just because laws pass does not mean we follow them (see 2020 & the Trump administration). It wasn’t until the voting rights act of 1965 that barriers that prevented black people from exercising their right to vote was passed. So, let’s not gaslight a nation saying black people could suddenly vote in 1870, because in all reality there were barriers put in place to stop them from exercising that right. It took 100 years for us to accept the reality that voter suppression was real & do something about it, so let’s take that history lesson to today.

      • And now with an increase in gerrymandering in many states they are trying to “herd” the vote into certain political pens where their vote means less because of the way their districts are being withdrawn. So, vote disenfranchisement is still going in my opinion by mostly rich, white men in power.

      • Anna says:

        Thank you @MM2

  10. AnnaKist says:

    Geez. What a vile bunch of sore, bitter losers. They are an embarrassment to themselves, the Office of President, democracy and the bible they claim to live by. They deserve our derision and mockery because the choose to be fuckwits.

  11. Snuffles says:

    I swear, Trump and his MAGAts brought out the infected puss that lived below the surface of most Republicans. I can only hope they after the puss comes out, it will be purged and the infection will heal.

    • Betsy says:

      Thank you for correctly noting the problem. Everyone acts like Trump is some ghastly anomaly, and while he is ghastly, he’s not exactly an anomaly. He is but a symptom of the larger rot in the GOP. He is the pustule, but the pus is freely circulating in the body GOP.

  12. Rapunzel says:

    This event just shows that public outrage works. Without the blowback, they wouldn’t have changed their minds.

    Trump is going crazy on Twitter this morning, ranting about the Wayne County flip flop, and claiming, again, that he “won the election” and there was “voter fraud all over the country.”
    It’s appalling.

    • holly hobby says:

      People on Twitter dug into the two GOPers on that panel and they found racists. I think Miss Monica and the other guy was genuinely afraid that people were ripping their veneer off on twitter.

  13. Bibliomommy96 says:

    Wow, that Ned guy, he said everything that needed to be said, and what we wish the media would say. Good for him

  14. MerlinsMom1018 says:

    @Ned Staebler and @Steve Kornacki…give them their own show. Ned can call the idiots out and Kornacki can stand at the big board with numbers and stats to back him up!!!!

    • Lady2Lazy says:

      @ MerlinsMom1018, yes!! These 2 would be a match made in heaven!! Ned Staebler told it like it is and spoke for so many of us thinking the same thing!! Now we are all freaking out in Texas because the RepubliCANT’S are already gerrymandering the redrawing the election maps and disenfranchising so many POC and those suffering from poverty that it will affect our elections for 10 GD years!! I am living in a nightmare in Texas!! I hate this state so much🤬
      On a bright note, our Lt. Governor is under investigation with the FBI regarding placing favoritism to one of his biggest supporters and there was a whistleblower complaint filed by 2 employees for his unlawful actions. This is the same POS that offered $1 million dollars for leads of voter fraud about two weeks ago!!

      • MerlinsMom1018 says:

        @Lady
        I live in Texas too!!!!!! I truly love my state, just not the boot lickers who run it.
        Ahhhhhh yes…Dan Patrick. What a whack-a-mole. I don’t think anything will actually come of the investigations (see above: boot lickers) but it is indeed entertaining to watch him squirm
        Have faith!!!!

  15. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    This is where we are. I’m desperately trying not to feel this way, but we lost our democracy in 2016. And sadly, I think the wonderful Obama administration began the decline. Certainly not because of anything they did. But it rallied the racists. I didn’t think about it then because I believed in a system established a very long time ago. Now? I do not.

  16. Marigold says:

    Republicans are trash people. Prove me wrong.

  17. Tashiro says:

    “In a tweet, Trump campaign lawyer Jenna Ellis called it a “huge win” for the president”
    😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

  18. Dani says:

    This stunt gave me the chills – as it should for any democracy-loving American – and the entire ordeal is unfolding just as this podcast predicted: https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/what-if

    Which is beyond chilling…

    Speaking for myself, I’m completely exhausted from the daily outrage from the Cheeto-in-Chief’s behavior, but we absolutely must PAY ATTENTION between now and January 20 – which can’t arrive fast enough.