Michigan should delay election certification, GOP Senate candidate says

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Michigan’s Board of State Canvassers should delay Monday’s planned certification of the state’s Nov. 3 election results, a prominent state Republican said Friday.

John James, the GOP candidate who competed in the state’s U.S. Senate race earlier this month – but has not yet conceded to Democratic incumbent Sen. Gary Peters – made the request to the four member canvasser board, according to the Detroit Free Press.

“I submit this request because I am interested in the truth and protecting the integrity of our elections,” James wrote to the board, according to the newspaper. “Sometimes the truth takes time to surface, and it’s rarely easy to get to."

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The panel, composed of two Republicans and two Democrats, is set to meet Monday to certify the state’s presidential election results, which showed Democrat Joe Biden defeating President Trump by about 155,000 votes, according to the Fox News Decision Desk.

In a letter to the board, James calls for a two-week delay “to fully audit the election results,” the Free Press reported.

Unofficial results show James trailing Peters in the Senate race by about 92,000 votes, the newspaper reported.

Norm Shinkle, a Republican member of the canvassers board, has said he is leaning toward a delay request, the report said.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson audits of the voting are planned for after certification takes place – because certification is required to grant officials access to the documents.

Benson, a Democrat, claimed no credible fraud allegations have been presented in the state to justify the canvasser board delaying certification.

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On Thursday, the Trump 2020 Campaign withdrew a lawsuit challenging election results in Wayne County, Mich., which includes Detroit, claiming the goal of preventing the county’s results from being certified prematurely had been achieved.

The county’s board certified its election results Tuesday.

On Friday, two Republican leaders in Michigan – state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and state Speaker of the House Lee Chatfield – met with President Trump at the White House and said they had not seen any evidence that would “change the outcome of the election” in Michigan but would continue a thorough review of the elections process.