The campaign of Michigan Senatorial candidate John James (R) has accused local officials of impropriety, voter suppression, and election interference after incumbent Gary Peters picked up hundreds of thousands of votes overnight.
Stuart Sandler, a consultant for James’ campaign who also observed the count as a volunteer lawyer, told Fox News they allege there were a “lot of irregularities” throughout the process that must be looked into.
“There were all kinds of chicanery, including ballots that came in reportedly in the middle of the night at 3:30 a.m. – 35,000 ballots that were deceptively brought in,” Sandler said. “There have been a lot of irregularities and a lack of integrity. They’re not letting challengers in, they’re not letting them get food or water. When they do, they’re not letting them come back. There are all sorts of disruptions to the process.”
With James holding a significant lead right up into the early hours of Wednesday morning, Sandler alleged Mark Brewer, a former state Democratic chairman, organized the arrival of dozens of lawyers and activists to the TCF center in Detroit in order to “disrupt the process.”
“There’s a lack of integrity there,” he explained. “The people of Michigan made their choice and they’ve been trying to disrupt the process. And we’re reviewing our options.”
Yet in an interview with AP, Brewer insisted the process was the cleanest and most effective Detroit had ever had. “This is the best absentee ballot counting operation that Detroit has ever had,” he said. “They are counting ballots very efficiently, despite the obstructing tactics of the Republicans.”
Election desks declared Peters the winner on Wednesday evening, having allegedly edged out his opponent by just over 70,000 votes. Although Republicans are still likely to hold on to their Senate majority, many were optimistic that James, an African-American businessman and Iraq War veteran, could flip the seat.
The complaints from the James campaign follow the announcement from President Donald Trump’s campaign similarly alleging lack of access to counting stations.
“President Trump’s campaign has not been provided with meaningful access to numerous counting locations to observe the opening of ballots and the counting process, as guaranteed by Michigan law,” Trump 2020 campaign manager Bill Stepien said in a statement.
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