A state election panel will have to decide who really won the Detroit mayoral primary after Wayne County election officials on Tuesday refused to certify shocking new election results, which would have invalidated about 20,000 votes and handed the primary win to Benny Napoleon instead of Mike Duggan. The county board was debating whether to invalidate more than 20,000 write-in votes that were not recorded at polling locations using hash marks, which would cause the result of the Aug. 6 primary to be flipped — with Napoleon, the Wayne County sheriff, receiving more votes than write-in candidate Duggan. ■ PDF: Unofficial write-in summary for Detroit mayoral primary
Both political camps are now looking beyond Detroit for answers and clarification and fired off statements Tuesday that support what many observers have been predicting — that the mud will fly before November.
■ Related: What they said: Detroiters, leaders react to primary election flap
The board was split on whether to certify Detroit mayoral election numbers after votes were called into question because of errors by Detroit elections workers.
“The county canvassing board was only required in June to certify local elections,” said Board of Canvassers Chair Carol Larkin. “There’s very little precedent for us to act on. But there were numerical discrepancies … that need to be reconciled. And the state will do that.”
Full Article: Detroit mayor count in chaos as Wayne County refuses to certify primary results | Detroit Free Press | freep.com.