Questions Arise About Trump Win After Officials Say Most Detroit Voting Machines Were Broken
During the 2016 Presidential election, Michigan was a state where President-elect Donald Trump unexpectedly garnered more support from voters than his rival Hillary Clinton. After a voter recount was launched and halted by a federal judge on Wednesday, state officials are now admitting that most of the voting machines in Detroit were broken on Election Day, reports the International Business Times.
According to officials, over 80 machines were deemed faulty on November 8 which may have caused electronic vote tallies to be off in over half of the precincts in Detroit as well as one-third of the precincts in Wayne County. The elections director for the city of Detroit, Daniel Baxter, says that the issue could have a problematic impact on a recount. “It’s not good,” he told the Detroit News. “It’s a challenge, but we’re confident the ballots will match. I don’t think it’s going to be 100 percent, but it never is with a recount.” He claims that many of the voting machines were over 10-years-old.
In Detroit, where African-Americans make up 82 percent of the population, the number of ballots in the precinct poll books didn’t align with the voting machine reports in 59 percent of the city’s precincts.
Since Clinton received the lion’s share of support from Black voters–88 percent compared to Trump’s 8 percent–questions arise about how he won the state.
Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein initially launched a recount in the state but was denied by the court because she wasn’t directly impacted by the results. The recount now depends on whether the Michigan Supreme Court will consider an appeal from Stein.
SOURCE: International Business Times, Detroit News
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