Cocktails & Popcorn: The Michigan 2018 General Election Certification Enters The Recount Phase - 11-28-2018 - Where Is Marc Elias?

"I am not a bully. I am the Celestial Goddess of the Woodshed."

Recently on Cocktails & Popcorn, Adam Hollier magically made himself a Senator, while Rashida Tlaib refuses to say anything about the Detroit Land Bank Authority and Brenda Jones is on her way to D.C., even though she will not be sworn in because the Michigan 2018 Primary & General Elections have yet to be certified by the Wayne County Board of Canvassers or the Michigan Secretary of State Board of Canvassers.

http://rashidatlaib.com

See, it goes like this.

Brenda Jones asked House Ethics Committee if she had to resign from Detroit City Council.

House Ethics Committee said, "Nope", but did not go into detail, so I will.

See, House Speaker, cannot swear anyone in until the election is certified.

Since the election is not certified, she does not have to resign.

So, when she goes up to D.C. and does her own magical congressional stuff, she might just be arrested on the spot for impersonating an elected official, or something like that, because she cannot be sworn in, because the election is not certified, nor recorded.

How do I know the election is not recorded or certified?

Well, all you have to do is read the official notice of the Michigan Board of Canvassers announcing the November 28, 2018 deadline for Recount Petition Filing Deadlines, below, but let us examine the legal citation of the Notice:

MICHIGAN ELECTION LAW (EXCERPT) Act 116 of 1954
168.879 Petition for recount; requirements; good-faith belief in winning; petition by state political party chairperson; recount and preservation of ballots; report; authority of legislature. 

Sec. 879.
(1) A candidate voted for at a primary or election for an office may petition for a recount of the votes if all of the following requirements are met: 

(a) The office is an office for which the votes are canvassed by the board of state canvassers under section 841 or is the office of Representative in Congress, state representative, or state senator for a district located wholly within 1 county. 

(b) The petition alleges that the candidate is aggrieved on account of fraud or mistake in the canvass of the votes by the inspectors of election or the returns made by the inspectors of election, or by a board of county canvassers or the board of state canvassers. The candidate must be able to allege a good-faith belief that but for fraud or mistake, the candidate would have had a reasonable chance of winning the election. The petition must contain specific allegations of wrongdoing only if evidence of that wrongdoing is available to the petitioner. If evidence of wrongdoing is not available, the petitioner is only required to allege fraud or a mistake in the petition without further specification. 

(c) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, the petition for a recount is filed not later than 48 hours following the completion of the canvass of votes cast at an election. If the recount petition relates to a state senatorial or representative district located wholly within 1 county or to the district of a Representative in Congress located wholly within 1 county, the petition for a recount must be filed not later than 48 hours following the adjournment of the meeting of the board of state canvassers at which the certificate of determination for that office was recorded under section 841. However, for a special election for Representative in Congress, state senator, or state representative for a district located wholly within 1 county, the petition for recount must be filed not later than 48 hours after the certificate of determination is filed with the secretary of the board of state canvassers. 

(d) The petition is presented to and filed with the secretary of state. 

(e) The petition is written or printed and is signed and sworn to by the candidate. 

(f) The petition sets forth as nearly as possible the nature and character of the fraud or mistakes alleged and the counties, cities, or townships and the precincts in which they exist. 

(g) The petition specifies the counties, cities, townships, and precincts in which the recount is requested. 

(h) If the office is the office of state representative, a copy of the petition is filed with the clerk of the house of representatives. If the office is the office of state senator, a copy of the petition is filed with the secretary of the senate. 

(2) If a state senatorial race is determined by a vote differential of 500 votes or less or a state representative race is determined by a vote differential of 200 votes or less, the chairperson of a state political party may petition for a recount of the votes on behalf of a candidate in that race in the manner prescribed in subsection (1). Notwithstanding subsection (1)(b) and (f), the petition filed under this subsection need not allege fraud or mistake. Notwithstanding subsection (1)(e), the petition must be signed by the chairperson of the state political party filing the petition under this subsection. 

(3) The ballots in a precinct petitioned for recount in a legislative contest must be recounted for that office by the board of state canvassers and must be preserved until the contest is disposed of under the rules of the legislative body that takes office beginning in January following the contested general election. In legislative recounts of a special general election, ballots in a precinct petitioned for recount must be preserved until the contest is disposed of under the rules of the legislative body serving at the time the report in subsection (4) is filed. 

(4) Upon the completion of a recount for a legislative office, the board of state canvassers, in addition to the certification required by section 892, shall forward to the appropriate legislative body a report of the results of the recount. 

(5) This section does not limit the authority of the legislature under section 16 of article IV of the state constitution of 1963.

History: 1954, Act 116, Eff. June 1, 1955 ;-- Am. 1973, Act 157, Imd. Eff. Dec. 6, 1973 ;-- Am. 1980, Act 61, Imd. Eff. Apr. 1, 1980 ;-- Am. 1995, Act 261, Eff. Mar. 28, 1996 ;-- Am. 1999, Act 216, Imd. Eff. Dec. 28, 1999 ;-- Am. 2018, Act 128, Eff. Aug. 1, 2018 Popular Name: Election Code

According to MCL 168.879(1), it states, in part:

 A candidate voted for at a primary or election for an office may petition for a recount of the votes.

According to MCL 168.136, it states, in full:

If for any reason there is no candidate of a political party for the office of representative in congress, a blank space shall be provided on each of the official primary ballots that affords every elector of the political party an opportunity to vote for a candidate for that office by writing in the name of his or her selection.

So, I guess this means if someone wrote in the name of someone on the official Primary Ballot, that someone would be a candidate, and, as such, would be able to petition on fraud under MCL 168.879(1)(b).

(b) The petition alleges that the candidate is aggrieved on account of fraud or mistake in the canvass of the votes by the inspectors of election or the returns made by the inspectors of election, or by a board of county canvassers or the board of state canvassers. The candidate must be able to allege a good-faith belief that but for fraud or mistake, the candidate would have had a reasonable chance of winning the election. The petition must contain specific allegations of wrongdoing only if evidence of that wrongdoing is available to the petitioner. If evidence of wrongdoing is not available, the petitioner is only required to allege fraud or a mistake in the petition without further specification. 

Now, considering the fact that the 2018 Primary Election has not been certified by the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, having been deferred to Michigan Board of Canvassers, where there has yet been any certification or recording of the vote, where we still do not know who all the write-in candidates are, that would mean one of these write-in candidates have legal ground to file a petition for recount.

Unfortunately, a Primary Recount is going to be a tad bit difficult, unless the ballots are preserved, which would mean that the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security would have to execute its orders to preserve the integrity of voting rights to examine if there has been any ballot fraud, particularly absentee ballot fraud.

Then, the report goes through one last process pursuant to MCL 168.879(3):

(3) The ballots in a precinct petitioned for recount in a legislative contest must be recounted for that office by the board of state canvassers and must be preserved until the contest is disposed of under the rules of the legislative body that takes office beginning in January following the contested general election. In legislative recounts of a special general election, ballots in a precinct petitioned for recount must be preserved until the contest is disposed of under the rules of the legislative body serving at the time the report in subsection (4) is filed. 

Since we are also dealing with a Special Election, MCL 168.879(4) states that the report of the recount results would be forwarded to the appropriate legislative body, which may just be the U.S. House Judiciary, which would probably refer it to the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General, who would probably refer it to the Office of Special Counsel.

(4) Upon the completion of a recount for a legislative office, the board of state canvassers, in addition to the certification required by section 892, shall forward to the appropriate legislative body a report of the results of the recount. 

Of course, MCL 168.879(5) recognizes the powers of the Michigan Constitution:

(5) This section does not limit the authority of the legislature under section 16 of article IV of the state constitution of 1963.

Then again, Section 16 of Article IV of the Michigan Constitution identifies the legislators, including the Congress, as the final arbitrator of the integrity of the election through expulsion:

Sec. 16.
Each house, except as otherwise provided in this constitution, shall choose its own officers and determine the rules of its proceedings, but shall not adopt any rule that will prevent a majority of the members elected thereto and serving therein from discharging a committee from the further consideration of any measure. Each house shall be the sole judge of the qualifications, elections and returns of its members, and may, with the concurrence of two-thirds of all the members elected thereto and serving therein, expel a member. The reasons for such expulsion shall be entered in the journal, with the votes and names of the members voting upon the question. No member shall be expelled a second time for the same cause.

But hey, what do I know?

I know the recount petition filing deadline elapses 48 hours after the adjournment of the Board of State Canvassers meeting at which the results were certified as official, which was November 26, 2018, but I did not attend the meeting, so there is a possibility that the statute is tolling as of this posting.

I know if the Michigan 2018 General Election is not certified, let alone recorded and we should expect a petition, or Grand Jury indictments, or something like that because I wrote in my candidate for the 2018 Primary Election, which is still not certified or recorded.

I also know that these pseudo-elected candidates should know all this, considering that they really, really want to be public officials doing public official stuff like preserving voting rights by respecting the integrity through due process in elections, and not interfering in a federal investigation of fraud by way of public posturing, or clowning, as a more colorful descriptive, before being officially sworn in.

One woman, one vote.

Has anyone heard from Marc Elias lately?

Michigan Board of Canvassers General Election Recount Filing Deadline Announcement 11-26-2018 by Beverly Tran on Scribd

I cannot wait to see how they recount an election that was so jacked up.

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©