After hundreds of thousands of ballots appeared overnight for incumbent Gary Peters, the campaign of Senate candidate John James (R) has accused local officials in Michigan of impropriety, voter suppression, and election interference.
Stuart Sandler, a consultant for James’ campaign, had been observing the vote count as a volunteer lawyer. Sandler told Fox News that the campaign alleges there were a “lot of irregularities” that occurred during the counting process which 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.
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,” Sandler said.
James had a significant lead over Peters until the early hours of Wednesday morning, when a former state Democratic chairman allegedly stepped in. Sandler claims that the Democrat, Mark Brewer, organized the arrival of dozens of activists and lawyers to the TCF center in Detroit to “disrupt the process.”
“There’s a lack of integrity there. The people of Michigan made their choice and they’ve been trying to disrupt the process. And we’re reviewing our options,” Sandler explained.
Despite this, Brewer claimed in an interview with the AP that 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. They are counting ballots very efficiently, despite the obstructing tactics of the Republicans,” he said.
Peters was declared the winner Wednesday night, somehow edging his opponent out by just over 70,000 votes. Though the GOP will still keep its majority in the Senate, conservatives were hoping that James, an African-American businessman and Iraq War veteran, could flip the seat.
President Trump tweeted about the suspicious circumstances surrounding the election, stating: “Wow! It looks like Michigan has now found the ballots necessary to keep a wonderful young man, John James, out of the U.S. Senate. What a terrible thing is happening!”
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1324059767581671425
Complaints from the James campaign came shortly after President Trump’s campaign made similar accusations about voting irregularities and lack of access to polling 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,” said Trump 2020 campaign manager Bill Stepien.
