Sending out an SOS to state officials to act

As it turns out, the mess over the election results from last Tuesday is even worse than we feared.
We’re not talking here about who won or lost, but instead about the massive suspicion that some candidates cheated through ballot harvesting.
On top of that, 150 absentee ballots could not immediately be counted because voters either forgot to sign their ballot before returning it, or their supposed signature didn’t match what was on file.
That’s 150 ballots – something in our three-plus decades of covering elections here that has never occurred. And, on top of that, there is now the mysterious matter of 37 ballots not being initially counted.
It’s now unclear who won the mayoral election, and it looks like the matter won’t be resolved until Nov. 18 when Wayne County election officials review the count.
On top of all this, mayor-elect Adam Alharbi has filed a lawsuit against his opponent, Muhith Mahmood, who Alharbi says is ineligible to serve in the role of mayor because he does not reside in the city.
This election is in shambles, and once again calls are coming in for outside investigators to look into the residency of two elected officials, Mahmood and Councilmember Abu Musa, who are suspected of living in the suburbs, and the ongoing likelihood of ballot harvesting by some candidates and their supporters.
So far, the state has shown little interest in preserving the integrity of our elections, despite the outcry from residents.
To the state Attorney General’s Office and Secretary of State: Consider this an SOS from Hamtramck.
Do something.
The people of Hamtramck deserve honest elections. Is that too much to ask?
Posted Nov. 14, 2025