It’s not over until it’s over

Councilmember Muhith Mahmood lost his bid to overturn the mayoral election results, but he still has a pending court challenge over the election.

Charles Sercombe
Hamtramck’s mayoral election took yet another twist and turn.
Although the recount of the election is now over and Adam Alharbi remains the mayor-elect, his opponent, Muhith Mahmood, is not totally conceding yet.
Mahmood has filed a lawsuit to have 37 ballots, that the Wayne County Board of Canvassers prevented from being counted, to now be counted.
The ballots were set aside because they were left unsecured in the Hamtramck City Clerk’s Office and were not counted on election day.
City Clerk Rana Faraj says the ballots weren’t discovered until after the election was over and all the other election ballots were tabulated.
She later reported the ballots to the county for tabulation. But the Board of Canvassers split their vote 2-2 on whether the ballots should be counted.
To count the ballots, at least three Board members had to vote in favor of it. The two Republicans on the Board said the ballots could not be counted because they were left unsecured in the Clerk’s Office and thus could have been tampered with.
The two Democrats on the Board insisted the ballots have to be counted, or otherwise those 37 voters would be disenfranchised.
The 37 ballots could swing the election in favor of Mahmood, who, as of now, has lost the election by a slim 11-vote margin.
His attorney, Mark Brewer, the former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, argued in the lawsuit that not counting the ballots in question is an “unconstitutional disenfranchisement of 37 Hamtramck citizens and voters. … The Wayne County Board of Canvassers failed to correct those mistakes. Those ballots should be counted or those voters given the opportunity to cast new ballots.”
Mahmood’s supporters insisted, at a prior Board meeting, that the ballots be counted.
Alharbi and his supporters disagreed that the ballots should be counted. They argued that, since the ballots were left in an unsecured area where multiple people had access to the Clerk’s Office, the ballots could have been tampered with.
Even if Mahmood does prevail in his lawsuit, he is still facing a lawsuit filed by Alharbi.
Alharbi’s suit says that an internal city investigation indicated that Mahmood is not actually a resident of Hamtramck, which disqualifies him from holding elected office in the city.
The same investigation found that Councilmember Abu Musa, who was the top vote-getter in the November council election, also does not live in the city.
Both Mahmood and Musa deny the allegations.
Mahmood has admitted that his wife and family live in Troy, but said that he resides in Hamtramck.
Musa has also admitted that his wife and family live in Warren, but likewise claims that he lives here in town.
Both say they are neither divorced nor separated from their wives.
UPDATE: In the court hearing on Friday, U.S. Federal Court Judge Patricia Perez Fresard told the attorneys to further discuss the matter, and to come back to court next Friday, Dec.12. Fresard has also agreed to hear Alharbi’s claim to have Mahmood disqualified from holding elected office in Hamtramck. Alharbi has accused Mahmood of not being a resident in Hamtramck, and thus not qualified to hold office.
Posted Dec. 5, 2025