Lansing — Ten Michigan Democrats said initial records from the party’s April 19 convention inaccurately reflected what they thought their votes were, raising new questions about the system used to nominate candidates for attorney general and secretary of state.
The interviews in recent days came as the state Democratic Party audits the convention’s results and as some Democrats advocate for eliminating the process that allowed key nominations to be made at meetings organized by the parties, instead of a traditional and more accessible primary election.
The Detroit News obtained an array of internal records from the Democratic convention, including an unofficial list of how every attendee voted and a list of how their ballots were handled. The News documented 10 instances where the initial tracking of how people voted didn’t match how the individuals said they voted.
In addition, multiple Democrats said they intended to vote at the convention but couldn’t because the event lasted three hours longer than expected. Candidates have already contended that more than 200 people cast votes from outside the convention hall when, according to party rules, they were supposed to be there in person to participate.
Veronica Taylor, a longtime Democratic activist from Pontiac, said she voted at the convention. However, internal party records didn’t include her vote in the initial results.
“These candidates did all of this work, and the system failed them,” Taylor said.
Likewise, Michele Lake of New Hudson believed she had voted at the convention until The News informed her on Monday that party records listed her ballot as “opened” but “not voted.”
“I was certainly under the impression that my vote went through,” said Lake, who acknowledged the internet at the Huntington Place convention center seemed to be struggling as thousands of Democrats attempted to vote on the evening of April 19.
Timing delays, congested Wi-Fi and confusion about how to vote marked the gathering where Democrats picked their candidates for Michigan’s top law enforcement position, the state’s top election official position and six seats on boards that guide the state’s three largest public universities.
Already, multiple high-profile Democrats, including Attorney General Dana Nessel, have called for an independent audit of the convention results, citing problems with the voting process. Nessel’s vote wasn’t recorded correctly initially.
The News similarly found the vote of a former Michigan Supreme Court nominee, Samuel Bagenstos, was also initially recorded inaccurately. Bagenstos said he voted, but initial party records said he didn’t.
Michigan Democrats used an electronic voting system at their convention that allowed people with credentials to cast ballots over their cellphones.
A spreadsheet of vote tracking from the convention, obtained by The News, listed Taylor’s ballot as “undeliverable” because of an invalid phone number. One digit of the number in the spreadsheet for Taylor appeared to be different from the number Taylor used to contact The News.
Curtis Hertel, chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, previously said audits by the party and the party’s software vendor, Election Buddy, were underway.
“Following convention, and in collaboration with the election software vendor, we have conducted a detailed, line-by-line review and continue to remain confident in the election results,” Hertel said Monday.
The chairman also announced that he was setting up an advisory committee, led by Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, to examine the party’s voting procedures and election software ahead of future conventions. Byrum was one of the candidates for secretary of state at last month’s convention who lost the nomination to Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II.
As for the vote by Bagenstos, Hertel said his vote and Nessel’s vote were initially recorded incorrectly because of a “contact information mismatch error.” Both votes have since been fixed, he said.
‘Widespread irregularities’ cited
A month after the event, the Michigan Democratic Party has not released the official results for the convention races.
While unofficial numbers obtained by The News indicated most of the contests weren’t close, the race for a nomination for one seat on the Michigan State University Board of Trustees was initially decided by 15 weighted votes out of more than 5,600.
State Sen. Sylvia Santana of Detroit has appealed her narrow loss to incumbent Trustee Kelly Tebay Zemke of Ann Arbor, citing “material errors” in the convention’s vote-counting process.
A party appeals committee will decide soon how to move forward, Hertel said.
In the race for the party’s attorney general endorsement, Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit won with about 59% of the vote, while Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald received about 41%, according to unofficial numbers obtained by The News.
That would be a difference of about 914 weighted votes out of about 5,366. The approximately 6,600 people who voted at the convention had their votes weighted based on the county they came from for the results.
In a letter to Hertel, McDonald previously cited “widespread irregularities affecting at least hundreds of voters,” including more than 200 votes cast by individuals who weren’t in Detroit, according to internet connection data.
A spreadsheet obtained by The News showed that about 7,200 Michigan Democrats had credentials to vote at the convention, a record. Yet, about 657 of them — roughly 9% — didn’t vote, according to the tracking.
The News in recent days contacted dozens of those individuals who didn’t vote, finding some intended not to vote and others who had to leave the convention because voting was delayed by multiple hours on a Sunday evening.
The original call to convention said the event would start at 3 p.m. and was scheduled to adjourn by 6 p.m. Instead, the voting didn’t begin until about 5:30 p.m., and the winners weren’t revealed until 9 p.m.
Savannah Thomas of Farmington Hills said she wasn’t able to vote because she had to leave around 7 p.m. Thomas said it was a good convention, but she added, “I think it could be a little better organized.”
Forty individuals received a ballot, opened it on their phone or tablet, but didn’t vote, according to records reviewed by The News.
Among them was U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of Ann Arbor.
“Abdul intended to vote but needed to leave to go to his next engagement before the issues with the voting process were resolved,” said Roxie Richner, El-Sayed’s campaign spokeswoman.
Flint delegate says ‘I know I voted,’ but records show no ballot was cast
The News also found a handful of Democrats who thought they had voted at the convention but whose votes weren’t reflected in the internal party records.
For example, Daniel Reyes of Flint said he voted, but party records, reviewed by The News, showed his ballot had been opened but not cast.
“I know I was there,” Reyes said. “And I know I voted.”
Likewise, Jake Altman of Saline and Jon Swanson of Ann Arbor reported having problems trying to cast their votes. They were both listed as having not voted.
Kelly Collins-Binkowski of Ferndale, who works for McDonald, thought she had voted at the convention. But she later found out she was listed as having “not voted.”
“How is that even possible?” asked Collins-Binkowski, who spent her day at the convention on April 19.
Party records also listed Kenneth Allen of Cheboygan County as not voting.
“As far as we could tell, it accepted our vote,” Allen told The News.
A 10th individual, who declined to be publicly identified, said he had voted, but party records said he didn’t.
Hertel acknowledged “a handful of voters who experienced technical difficulties in submitting their ballot, including because of WiFi or smartphone issues.”
“We worked with the venue to boost internet service in anticipation of thousands voting via electronic voting,” Hertel said. “Voters should’ve received a confirmation code upon submission of their electronic ballot and there was a help desk available for voters who experienced issues.
“This is not a widespread issue and impacted only a small percentage of voters. We apologize for any technical difficulties that members experienced.”
Michigan Democrats float moving to a primary
Former Michigan House Democratic Leader Chris Greig of Farmington Hills didn’t attend the convention but received an email with credentialing information for the event that she thought was unusual.
The email arrived in Greig’s inbox but was addressed to another current lawmaker, she said. Greig also cited the delays in voting at the convention as a problem.
“Personally, I would like to see a primary for secretary of state and attorney general,” Greig told The News. “I think that would be good.”
Currently, Michigan law allows voters to pick nominees for governor, Congress and seats in the Legislature through the August primary election. However, party conventions, with rules set up by the parties themselves, are used to select nominees for attorney general, secretary of state and university board positions.
In the wake of the April 19 convention, state Rep. Noah Arbit, D-West Bloomfield Township, has been working on legislation to shift the attorney general and secretary of state nominations to the primary ballot.
“The most important executive offices in the state should be nominated by wide participation at the ballot box, not through closed partisan conventions attended only by activists and ideologues,” Arbit said.
While about 7,200 people participated in the Michigan Democratic Party convention, using the electronic system, about 1.1 million voted in the last competitive Democratic gubernatorial primary in Michigan through the traditional election process.
William Noakes, who unsuccessfully sought the Democratic attorney general nomination at the convention, said convention races come down to whoever can bus in the most people to the event.
“It denies most of the people who would vote as Democrats in an election, it denies them the opportunity to participate,” Noakes said.
State Rep. Samantha Steckloff, D-Farmington Hills, attended the convention but supports the idea of shifting the nominations to the primary election.
It costs money and time for people to travel to the conventions, Steckloff said.
“There is nothing about this that is a free election,” Steckloff said.
cmauger@detroitnews.com
Staff Writer Beth LeBlanc contributed.
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Mystery lingers if some Michigan Democratic convention votes counted
Reporting by Craig Mauger, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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