Election officials in the U.S. Midwestern state of Michigan certified Democrat Joe Biden’s win in the state, despite President Donald Trump’s challenge of Biden's November 3 presidential victory based on unfounded allegations of voter fraud.
The Board of State Canvassers, which has two Republicans and two Democrats, confirmed the results on a 3-0 vote, with one Republican abstaining. Allies of Trump had urged the board to delay the certification by two weeks to allow for an audit of votes in heavily Democratic Wayne County, home to Detroit.
The certified results show Biden beat Trump in Michigan by more than 150,000 votes, or 2.8 percentage points. That margin is larger than in other states where Trump is contesting the election results, including Georgia, Arizona and Wisconsin.
Trump and his legal advisers took the unusual step last week to reach out directly to Republican legislative leaders in Michigan to see if they would be willing to take steps to reverse the election results in their states.
However, following a meeting with Trump at the White House last week, Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey and House Speaker Lee Chatfield, both Republicans, said in a joint statement, “As legislative leaders, we will follow the law and follow the normal process regarding Michigan’s electors.”
They said they “have not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan.”
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said ahead of the White House meeting between Trump and the Michigan legislators that it was not an “advocacy meeting” and would not include campaign officials.
Trump also personally called two Wayne County, Michigan, election officials last week who had agreed to certify results in their county. The county is Michigan’s most populous county and one that voted heavily for Biden.
Trump’s legal team dismissed the certification, and Trump himself tweeted that he would fight on.
The Trump administration’s efforts to contest the election results in several states have been met with legal defeats and rejection by election officials who have moved forward with confirming the results.
Michigan’s decision to certify the results is another setback in Trump’s efforts to challenge the election results. Trump is continuing to claim he won the election, despite Biden’s unofficial 306-232 majority vote in the Electoral College.
Trump’s legal fight against the election results has been fruitless so far, with his campaign losing or withdrawing 34 lawsuits claiming vote and vote-counting fraud in key battleground states that Biden is projected to win.
