Mayoral election is still a close one but is it over?

Mayoral-elect Adam Alharbi is still the winner in the mayoral election, but there will likely be legal challenges.

Updated …
By Charles Sercombe
Hamtramck mayor-elect Adam Alharbi is still the winner of the mayoral election.
That is the determination of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers after the city’s ballots were retabulated – including 120 absentee ballots that had needed to be “cured” first.
According to Wayne County election officials, Alharbi ended up beating his opponent, Muhith Mahmood, by just six votes — narrowing his initial victory down from 11 votes.
Although the official count is settled for the moment, this mayoral election appears to be far from over.
Mahmood told The Review that he will seek a recount, which is not uncommon in an election with results this close.
“Everybody, my supporters, is pressuring me to do the recount,” he said.
However, Mahmood concedes that the cost of an attorney – which could amount to thousands of dollars — could limit how far he will go in challenging the election outcome.
He has hired one of the state’s top election law attorneys, Mark Brewer, who is the former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party.
Alharbi told The Review that he will still seek to address Mahmood’s residency and his legal ability to hold elective office in Hamtramck.
Alharbi is relying on a prior internal investigation done by the city that accuses Mahmood of living in Troy with his family.
“We shall set a precedent that if you don’t live here and hold office, there are consequences,” Alharbi said.
Mahmood has admitted his wife and children live in Troy, but says that he lives in Hamtramck. He said that he and his wife are not separated or divorced.
Mahmood has not been charged with being a non-resident of the city.
As for his win, Alharbi said that despite the razor-thin margin of that victory, “I’m happy with the results, considering we ran a clean campaign where people made their own choices.”
Alharbi was alluding to allegations of ballot harvesting by some candidates and their supporters, both in this election and in prior elections.
Councilmember Mohammed Hassan is facing felony charges of election fraud.
Mahmood has denied ballot harvesting or election fraud.
Alharbi and Mahmood also traded barbs on social media prior to the election.
Alharbi said, of Mahmood:
“We are now pursuing felony charges for candidates who lied about their residency to steal a position. If you don’t live in Hamtramck, you will be removed from the ballot, removed from office, and charged for your crime.”
Mahmood countered:
“A hypocrite has no place in our community. You can’t shout about ‘voter fraud’ and spread lies while casting hundreds of votes for people who are in Yemen or outside the country — and even exchanging ballots at your own dining table. What a complete joke.”
As for the “cured” ballots, there were 150 absentee ballots that originally either did not have the voter’s signature, or else the voter’s signature did not match what was on file.
Apparently, 30 of those original 150 voters either didn’t clear up the matter with the city clerk’s office in time, or failed to rectify their ballot. That left 120 ballots to be counted.
But, there was also another matter in this election – one that has many layers of complexity.
Some 37 ballots – separate from the 150 unsigned/non-matching signature ballots — were found to be not counted at all. The reason for this is not entirely clear. City Clerk Rana Faraj told the Wayne County Board of Canvassers:
“Now, many times, we have older machines. There’s a lot of jams. So, we weren’t sure what the issue was. We looked around,” she explained.
“The next day, when we were retaining the envelopes, is when one of my clerks realized that there were still ballots inside of the envelopes.”
Faraj has since been placed on paid administrative leave, and there is now a question of why over 20 unauthorized people were allowed in her office where the uncounted ballots were located.
Those 37 ballots were discussed recently by the Wayne County Board of Canvassers.
The four board members, two Democrats and two Republicans, were tasked with deciding whether to count the 37 ballots. After two days of passionate public input, the board split 2-2, with the two Democratic members voting to count them, but the two Republican members voting against doing so.
The reason the ballots should not be counted, the Republican boardmembers said, was because they were left in an unsecured area of the city clerk’s office, thus exposing the ballots to possible tampering.
Democratic members of the board argued that not counting the ballots would disenfranchise those 37 voters.
The tie vote meant that the ballots could not be counted. That begs the question whether those 37 uncounted ballots would have swung the election results in Mahmood’s favor?
The ballots in question are from Precinct 2 in the city, which is populated mostly by Bengali voters who, theoretically, would support Mahmood (who is a Bengali-American).
Mahmood said those ballots should not be thrown out.
“People have a constitutional right to cast their ballot,” he said. “They voted for hope and change.”
There is also an allegation that Faraj had a punching bag in her office with either Mahmood’s name and/or picture.
Mahmood said that he is offended over the matter.
“How would you feel?” he told The Review. “It’s a hate crime.”
The Review reached out to Faraj for comment. She said that she won’t comment at this time.
At the end of the Wayne County Board of Canvasser’s meeting, Chairwoman Lisa Capatina sensed the frustration of some voters in Hamtramck, saying:
“Some of you even stated that, because of your disgust, you may not vote in the future. Volunteer, use your voice, and don’t stop voting.”
In other election updates, the county’s tabulation of ballots resulted in slight adjustments to the city council race, which did not change who won.
Updated Nov. 21, 2025