Wayne County, Mich., certified its election results Tuesday night, hours after a split vote delayed certification and drew nationwide attention.
Wayne is Michigan’s most populous county and contains Detroit. Voters in the county overwhelmingly supported Joe Biden in the presidential election.
But Tuesday afternoon, the usually low-profile Wayne County Board of Canvassers failed to certify the election results, with the board’s two Republican members voting against certification, the Detroit Free Press reported. The two Democratic members voted yes, creating a 2-2 deadlock.
Republican board members Monica Palmer and William Hartmann quickly faced statewide condemnation for their unprecedented action and for giving even small credence to President Trump’s false claims of voter fraud.
“The two Republican members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers have placed partisan politics above their legal duty to certify the election results,” Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement. “Today’s action is a blatant attempt to undermine the will of the voters.”
Trump and other Republicans have been attempting to subvert democracy since Trump lost the presidential election to Biden.