What the…?
Updated below.
The day after Detroit’s mayoral primary, pundits everywhere were astonished at his write-in campaign victory. According official tallies immediately after the election, Duggan got an amazing 44,395 write-in votes.
Today, however, according to the Detroit News, the Board of Canvassers declared his opponent, Sheriff Benny Napoleon, the victor. According to the News’ reporting, Napoleon’s vote count went up slightly from 28,352 to 28,391. Duggan’s tally however went dropped an astonishing 20,425.
Just a clerical error, I guess. Nothing to see here. Move along.
(Note: as of 3:40 p.m. on Friday, August 20th, only the Detroit News is reporting this and they do not explain the 20,000+ vote discrepancy. In fact, bizarrely, they don’t even mention it. [The story has been updated to mention it now.] They say that 52,361 votes were cast for the two men whereas their tally of results right after the election puts that number at over 72,000. I’m guessing this breaking story is going to be seeing some revisions before it’s all over. Either that or a lawsuit and/or criminal investigation.)
UPDATE: The Detroit Free Press is reporting that the final decision hasn’t been made and that the meeting is still in progress as of 4:30 p.m. Oddly, they say it’s around 18,000 votes that are being tossed. Someone’s math isn’t adding up here.
UPDATE 2: The Detroit Free Press is now reporting that the Wayne County Board of Canvassers is NOT certifying the election and is sending it to the state level
The Wayne County Board of Canvassers didn’t certify the Detroit mayoral election today, sending the matter to the state’s election board to decide.
Once again Michigan, and Detroit in particular, is an embarrassing clown show and sure to face ridicule on the national political stage.
Ugh.
