On November 17, 2020, the Wayne County Board of Canvassers (WCBOC) met to certify the election. It is Michigan’s largest county and home to Detroit. Needless to say, Republicans had their eyes on this certification process as the ultimate opportunity to hobble Michigan’s 16 electoral votes going to Mr. Biden. Plus, given the ridiculous treatment of Gov. Whitmer by the current, but-not-for-long occupant of the White House, Trump wants nothing more than to foment a statewide-coup to place Michigan in his “win” column.
True Colors of the “Hart”
Let’s take a look at a recent Facebook post by a Republican member of the WCBOC, William Hartmann, from November 7, 2020.
As a fiduciary of the Wayne County ballots as a canvasser, making comments like this sows distrust in the electoral process, something Hartmann must avoid ethically.
Instead, he insinuates he will upset the process. As a canvasser, his job requires him to count and certify, not comment outside of the meeting. I believe he should be brought up on ethics charges.
While veiled, Hartmann’s prediction readily exposes his intention to thwart the ballot certification. Hartmann knew what he was going to do at least a week, if not months, before the convening of the WCBOC met last night.
Warning: Viewer Discretion Advised
Here is a choice post from Hartmann in 2010, lest anyone still doubt his ideas about President Obama’s race.
(I decided to post this although it is despicable, because we must understand Hartmann’s self-stated ideology if we are going to thoroughly unmask his motivations for his actions — a place of deep hate, and I submit, deep fear. I know this is repulsive, but so is racism. We must become utterly disgusted by such messages in order to stop them.)
Is it any wonder Hartmann planned to do whatever it takes to undermine Wayne County election results, especially votes by African Americans?!
Here are some arguments and factoids about the role of canvassers in Michigan.
These vary from state to state, but you get the general idea behind this process.
- County canvassing boards are not supposed to be political bodies. They are bipartisan with non-partisan staff.
- County Boards of Canvassers are simply there to look for paperwork errors and correct issues that may be discovered.
- There were no issues raised that would warrant not certifying the results.
- The canvassing process is actually its own audit to ensure the results are accurate.
- No canvassing board has ever refused to certify an election.
- This election was fair, free, and accurate, and the people of Michigan are ready to move forward.
After the initial tie of 2 Republicans to 2 Democrats, Trump tweeted, “Wow! Michigan just refused to certify the election results! Having courage is a beautiful thing. The USA stands proud!” [Correction: It wasn’t the whole state of Michigan that refused to certify, it was Wayne County.]
Ned Staebler, a community activist present at this meeting on Zoom, called out the abject racism in a crystal clear assessment, as reported by Michigan Advance. Staebler duly noted that the WCBOC essentially ignored irregularities in Livonia, a supermajority white city, but was unwilling to overlook irregularities in the supermajority black city of Detroit.
The stain of racism that you, William Hartmann and Monica Palmer, have covered yourself in will follow you throughout history. Your grandchildren are going to think of you like Bull Connor or George Wallace,” in reference to 1960s Southern segregationalists. Staebler continued, “Monica Palmer and William Hartmann will forever be known in southeastern Michigan as two racists who did something so unprecedented that disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of Black voters in the City of Detroit because they were ordered to.
WAYNE COUNTY BOARD OF CANVASSERS – 2 Republican members voted not to certify the ballots- public comment is now open and it is intense. People calling board members racist. This is commenter Ned Staebler: pic.twitter.com/cEsDlxzVXT
— Jennifer Ann Wilson WXYZ (@JennaWils) November 17, 2020
As I listened to Staebler’s remarks, I agreed wholeheartedly, But I have to admit to feeling bad for these two individuals — they behaved deplorably. Like countless Trumpers before them, ultimately Trump turns on those who serve him, and this will be no different. At least they came to their senses to protect their reputation and legacy. How terrible to sacrifice one’s integrity for one who exhibits absolutely none. When will they ever learn?
Vice-chair of the Detroit Charter Commission, Nicole Small, observed the WCBOC along with 300-plus attendees, as reported by the Associated Press.
“Small believes the deadlocked vote was a blatant attempt at voter suppression that was fueled by ‘50% racism and 50% Republican politics because of Trump.’”
“I think it’s a dose of reality of the times that we are living in,” Small said. “It shows how much we have regressed not only just in politics but in making sure that civil rights are exercised and acknowledged no matter what color you are.”
For instance, Palmer suggested cutting Detroit out of the certification
For me, the meeting hit rock-bottom when GOP canvasser, Monica Palmer, suggested that all precinct totals be certified except for Detroit! I could not believe she just said it. A five-year-old would not be fooled by such outlandish logic. Once that statement came out of her mouth, it was on. I could feel something inside of me ramp up to oppose such incredibly naked racism.
I immediately thought about Justice Harlan’s 124-year-old dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson when he wrote,
The white race deems itself to be the dominant race in this country. And so it is, in prestige, in achievements, in education, in wealth, and in power. So, I doubt not, it will continue to be for all time, if it remains true to its great heritage and holds fast to the principles of constitutional liberty. But in the view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here. Our Constitution is color-blind and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. The humblest is the peer of the most powerful. The law regards man as man and takes no account of his surroundings or of his color when his civil rights as guaranteed by the supreme law of the land are involved… Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 US 537 (1896)
As people testified — attorneys and law students, people who worked the polls for hours on end, clergy, and Wayne County voters — I saw democracy rise up. And, there were no guns, no threats, no violence, only well-thought-out, impassioned oratory from citizens determined to protect every voter.
Intelligent, air-tight arguments won the day by people who believe in the “Great American Experiment,” that “We the People” have the right to self-govern. In my mind’s eye, the allegory of justice rose, blindfolded and calling for all voices to be counted, as she held the balanced scales of justice and liberty.
I’ll never forget this night — at first feeling the sting of same-old-same-old racism, and then the joy of justice rising in the voices of the people.
I couldn’t help but think of Christ’s mandate to love one another by recognizing all as having a voice, by acknowledging each as a child of God — and as such, we all count. It gives a striking new insight into Jesus’s feeding of the 5000. Each and every person matters in the Reign of God. Let us work to usher in the Reign of God!
