Some Michigan Democrats are calling for a recount Monday after numerous voting irregularities were discovered following their endorsement convention earlier this month.
The vote-by-phone convention in Detroit resulted in more than 200 ineligible votes being cast, multiple people using the same phone number to cast ballots and some votes not being counted, Democratic state Sen. Sylvia Santana’s campaign alleged in a filing calling for an audit and recount.
The filing, obtained by the Detroit News, contends there were “material errors” in the convention’s vote-counting process.
Santana’s campaign claims Michigan Democratic Party leadership failed to enforce a rule requiring people to be at the meeting in person to vote, and that the lawmaker would’ve won the nominations for a Michigan State University Board of Trustees spot had ballots cast from outside Detroit’s Huntington Place convention center not been counted.
The Democratic Party failed to fulfill “its responsibility of running a procedurally fair and transparent convention that complies with its own rules and regulations, thereby making it difficult — if not impossible — to honor the results of the convention,” the filing states.
Santana’s appeal alleges 302 voters were not on the party’s master voting list, and a whopping 208 people shared the same cellphone number with at least one other voter – including six members attached to a single phone number – which allowed people “to cast multiple votes.”
At least 16 cases of votes being recorded incorrectly or not being recorded at all were purportedly discovered as well.
Location data examined by Santana’s campaign found more than 200 votes were cast from outside the convention center, which means the candidate – who came in third place – would’ve won by 50 votes if the ineligible ballots weren’t counted.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, expressed support for Santana’s call for an audit.
“I learned in the days immediately following the convention that the Election Buddy app did not correctly attribute my votes or my congressional district, and I immediately notified the impacted candidates and the state party chair,” Nessel said in a statement.
Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald, who lost the party’s nominations for attorney general at the convention, similarly endorsed an audit.
“After reviewing the results of the MDP Endorsement Convention, it became clear that votes were incorrectly recorded, people voted who were not onsite, and some votes were not recorded at all,” McDonald said in a statement.
The Michigan Republican Party seized on the convention “mess,” questioning Democrats’ commitment to election integrity.
“Hundreds of ineligible voters took part in the Michigan Democrat Party’s endorsement convention, highlighting the importance of voter integrity,” the Michigan GOP wrote on X.
“Losing candidates are starting to take legal action against the Democrat Party, claiming the election were STOLEN from them,” the post continued.
“Democrats can’t even secure their own internal elections. What a mess!”
The Michigan Democratic Party declined to comment on the specifics of Santana’s appeals until after Monday’s deadline for candidates to file one.
“We are committed to following the appeals process and ensuring it is fair and independent,” the party said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the state attorney general dismissed GOP concerns about election integrity.
“There’s a substantial and documented difference between voting on a third party mobile phone application at a partisan convention and the long-established, decentralized process utilized by Michgian’s over 1,600 bipartisan clerks each election,” Nessel noted, arguing, “these results have no bearing on the veracity of state-run elections.”
