To paraphrase a line from HBO’s vote-debacle drama “Recount”: There’s a problem with the numbers in Detroit. A meeting of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers this week should have been as tedious as 10 pages of computer code. Instead, it became a highly publicized test of democracy — or competence — when the county clerk’s office tried to push through a near-50 percent change in the write-in vote total. The clerk’s office urged the canvassers to discard 18,000 write-in ballots: The reason given? Poll workers had used numerals rather than tally marks and hash tags on the official count. That discrepancy was not illegal, according to the state election director, Chris Thomas. But the county clerk urged the board of canvassers to toss the questionably counted ballots, turning them into non-votes. Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey, whose results were being challenged, demurred. “A citizen’s vote is the cornerstone of democracy, and people should be able to put their faith in their ballot,” she said. Those 18,000 ballots, all write-ins, were presumably cast for Mike Duggan. A turnabout in the total would eliminate his lead, making Benny Napoleon the primary winner. Canvassers, who had met twice before with the clerk’s staff, were flummoxed. Confronted with a deadline to certify — and warned that they lacked the authority and time to recount the votes — they punted the process to the state board of canvassers. There was no time, officials say, and the issue had never been previously brought to their attention. Canvassers, who had met twice before with the clerk’s staff, were flummoxed. Confronted with a deadline to certify — and warned that they lacked the authority and time to recount the votes — they punted the process to the state board of canvassers. There was no time, officials say, and the issue had never been previously brought to their attention.
Conspiracy theorists point to Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett’s relationship with AFSCME chief Al Garrett, a Benny Napoleon stalwart. They are sister and brother. I’m skeptical of conspiracies, generally, but equally incredulous of a county clerk who would blithely disregard thousands of votes because poll workers used an alternative marking system. There’s a cure for a bad count, as several officials have observed: Count again.
Full Article: Vote counting in Detroit mayoral primary sets off another fight | The Detroit News.