Detroit’s Count May Decide the Next President


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By Simon Albaugh

Detroit, Mich. – As of noon today, there were just over 100,000 votes left to count for Detroit to reach its complete election results. The count has been hotly contested, with a small number of conservative poll challengers being ejected from the counting hall at TCF Center.

Still, poll challengers from both parties have been pouring into the counting room. A majority of challengers have been representing the republican party, according to other news outlets. The fact that Detroit has so far been so heavily leaning toward Democratic Presidential Candidate Joe Biden means that a continued count can only help bolster Biden’s chances of taking Michigan.

At around 9:00am today, the State of Michigan switched to Joe Biden as the leading candidate of the popular vote. With 16 electoral votes, the most of any states that Biden is leading at the moment, the count in Detroit is essential for either candidate’s victory.

Activist Tristan Taylor speaks before a protest scheduled for 2:00pm at New Center’s, Detroit’s New Center Place Complex. (Photo by Simon Albaugh)

Protesters on both sides of the debate over continuing the count have made plans to demonstrate throughout Detroit. Conservative-leaning voices have said that because of the changes to the voting system in Michigan, a continued count leaves the state vulnerable to election fraud. On the other side of the debate, liberal and progressive activists accuse conservatives of trying to suppress a complete vote because of how the County has strongly favored democrats in the past.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson spoke at 11:00am in Lansing. In her press conference, she stated that poll challengers are well-within their rights to observe the counting process, or even challenge the counting of certain ballots.

“We fully expect that there will be a number of people who want to see the process or challenge it,” Secretary Benson said. “We want to make sure that our count is able to withstand any challenges that might come from the courts.”

Poll Challengers line up at the registration desk for election watchers in the TCF Center (Photo by Simon Albaugh)

Secretary Benson also wanted to assure people that there is no voter fraud, and that every clerk’s office has been playing by the rules. Benson says that the “8pm deadline was strictly enforced,” reassuring reporters that there were no opportunities for voters to turn in a late ballot.”

Most ballots left to count are the absentee ballots, which some members of the press say will heavily favor Joe Biden in the final results.

As of 2:00pm, the Associated Press has not called the National Election or the State of Michigan popular vote. Democratic Candidate Joe Biden currently holds 238 electoral votes, with Republican President Donald Trump holding 214 electoral votes.

In order for Biden to win, he must win the popular vote in Nevada, Wisconsin, and Michigan – all states that he currently is leading right now.

For Trump to win, he’ll need to win Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Alaska and one of the states where Biden is currently leading. But so far, Michigan and Wisconsin are extremely close to a complete count, with both states above 95% of precincts reporting. Nevada has the same lead for Biden right now, but only with 67% of precincts reporting.

Secretary of State Benson predicts that the full count will probably be made available at some point tonight. Benson asked poll workers to count throughout the night before amending her estimates of when a complete count will be made available.

As many have predicted, Michigan is at center stage for deciding the election. There’s still many thousands of ballots to go through, but as both the presidential and senate races approach a complete count, there is still open paths for all candidates that have run through Michigan.

 
  
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