The Michigan GOP has warned Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson that she's being put on notice. They are demanding that she follow through on auditing the election results in Wayne County, because, the group explains in a new statement, they are concerned that a majority of the Detroit absentee counting boards are "out of balance." And this reportedly not the first time this has happened.
When it became clear that 70% of the Detroit absentee counting boards were out of balance, the Wayne County Board of Canvassers agreed unanimously to request an audit of the Wayne County election results. This comes after the Secretary of State’s office pledged to help fix the issues faced by Wayne County in the August 2020 primary, where 72% of the Detroit absentee counting boards were out of balance. They failed to do so.
“Jocelyn Benson has shirked her responsibility as Secretary of State for far too long, and we are demanding she follow through on an audit of the Wayne County election results.” said Michigan Republican Party Chairman Laura Cox. Cox continued, “We are putting Benson on notice, the Michigan Republican Party will exhaust every legal option to ensure that we uncover the truth of what happened on election night and the days that followed. We will be holding her feet to the fire so that she will do her job and audit this vote.”
Michigan GOP Chair Laura Cox added an exclamation point to the message for the secretary of state on Twitter.
We are putting Benson on notice, the @MIGOP will exhaust every legal option to ensure that we uncover the truth of what happened on election night and the days that followed. We will be holding her feet to the fire so that she will do her job and audit this vote. https://t.co/AMA6n9smZm
— Laura Cox (@MIGOPChair) November 20, 2020
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has pushed back on these efforts and accused the Trump campaign of trying to "disenfranchise" the vote in Wayne County.
"The will of the people will be done, and these efforts to disenfranchise Wayne County, where a majority of our African American voters live, is a blatant attempt to steal the election result and disenfranchise Michigan voters," Whitmer said.