LANSING (AP) — Michigan election officials on Monday certified Democrat Joe Biden’s 154,000-vote victory in the state, another setback for President Donald Trump in his futile effort to undermine the results of the Nov. 3 election through baseless legal challenges and unsupported claims of fraud.
The Board of State Canvassers, which has two Republicans and two Democrats, confirmed the results on a 3-0 vote with one abstention.
Allies of Trump and losing GOP Senate candidate John James had urged the panel to delay a decision for two weeks so votes could be audited in heavily Democratic Wayne County, home to Detroit.
Biden defeated the president by more than 332,000 votes in the county. Democratic Sen. Gary Peters' margin there was 322,000.
“The people of Michigan have spoken. President-elect Biden won the state of Michigan by more than 154,000 votes, and he will be our next president on January 20th,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, said in a statement, saying it is “time to put this election behind us.”
The Trump legal team dismissed the certification as “simply a procedural step” and insisted it would fight on. But the president’s efforts to stave off the inevitable — formal recognition of his defeat — is facing increasingly stiff resistance from the courts and fellow Republicans with just three weeks until the Electoral College meets to certify Biden’s victory.
Trump supporters in Michigan pinned their hopes on canvassing boards — obscure panels that meet after elections to determine results based on reports from local clerks. They have no power to audit results or investigate fraud allegations, a point emphasized by Aaron Van Langevelde, the Republican vice chair, during Monday's state board meeting.
“The board’s duty today is very clear," Van Langevelde said. "We have a duty to certify this election based on these returns. That is very clear. We are limited to these returns.”
He joined Democrats Jeannette Bradshaw and Julie Matuzak in voting to certify the results.
Norman Shinkle, a Republican and former state senator, abstained after arguing that the panel was legally empowered to take more time and look into complaints.
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