by
Garlin Gilchrist II
Garlin Gilchrist II campaigned for Detroit City Clerk this year, talking about the many problems with the city's voting system.
When he lost Nov. 7 by 1,482s vote to incumbent Janice Winfrey, he asked for a recount. On Friday, he announced that the tally had been completed and he still lost.
But what he also essentially suggested is that the citizens of Detroit also lost. He noted that the voting system is still a big mess.
In a statement Friday, he says:
Earlier today, the Board of Canvassers finished the recount for the Detroit City Clerk’s ballots. My campaign requested a full recount of all 100 Absentee Voting Counting Boards (AVCB) and 60 Election Day precincts of the 490 precincts citywide.
There are a number of indications that the election system in Detroit continues to be broken and a sign that there’s more work that needs to be done to restore trust among voters here in the City.
In total, 16 of the 100 AVCB’s could not be recounted. Of the Election Day precinct sample we requested, 17 of the 60 precincts (28.3%) could not be recounted. One precinct’s sealed ballot box was found to contain only five ballots despite 140 additional ballots reported for that precinct in the Department of Elections unofficial election tally. Another ballot box had a seal however it was not closed and therefore not secured. In many of the 33 AVCB’s and precincts deemed not re-countable, many had poll book and ballot total discrepancies without any explanation.
Given what we’ve seen on Election Day and this week, all options should be on the table to take a deeper look into how the election process here in Detroit can be improved. I am prepared to provide whatever support I can to any effort to ensure the integrity of the voting process.
