Election investigation is ongoing

By Charles Sercombe
For weeks now, Hamtramck’s rumor mill has been swirling with speculation about an investigation into last fall’s city council election.
This week, it’s been confirmed by multiple sources that, indeed, the state’s Attorney General’s Office is interviewing residents about who handled their ballots.
There have been accusations that some candidates conducted ballot harvesting, even potentially going so far as to fill out ballots for some unsuspecting residents.
According to one source who is knowledgeable of the investigation, there is surveillance footage from city hall showing a person, or persons, dropping off bundles of ballots in the city’s drop box.
“They (AG agents) are adamant, and pushing through with this,” said the source, who asked not to be identified.
The Review reached out to the AG’s Office for comment, but no one responded.
City Councilmember Mohammed Hassan, who was one of three candidates elected last November, said he has also heard that there is an investigation going on, but knew of no details, and added that he has not personally been interviewed by AG agents.
On Hamtramck social media, it has also been reported that agents are knocking on doors, and that residents should cooperate.
Accusations of ballot harvesting are nothing new in Hamtramck. In just about every city election across the last several years, there have been rumors of police investigations.
Back in 2014, four local men were convicted of illegally handling absentee ballots. And while they only received minor fines and court fees, they each had felony convictions on their record for five years.
After five years, their convictions were expunged, meaning they would now have those charges removed from their records.
According to state law, it is illegal to handle an absentee ballot for a voter who is not related, or living in your residence.
The issue has become more prominent in recent years, as more and more voters now vote using absentee ballots.
The majority of Hamtramck voters are, in fact, now voting via absentee ballot.
Posted April 19, 2024