Watch: Detroit Absentee Ballot Counting Chaos as Workers Block Windows, Bar Observers
Absentee ballot counting in Detroit descended into chaos on Wednesday when hundreds of unofficial Republican observers concerned about fraud converged on the counting location.
The city of Detroit is using the TCF Center — formerly Cobo Hall — to count all of the absentee ballots in the city.
Republicans and Trump supporters grew alarmed as Trump was holding a strong lead in the state during early counting Tuesday evening, only for it to evaporate as mailed-in ballots were counted in historically Democrat areas.
Several videos posted on social media show workers attempting to restrict transparency and not allow people outside to observe what was going on inside the counting area:
The scene at Detroit’s absentee ballot counting center is growing more heated. The windows now being covered up. Allegations of violations. Sec. of State says she welcomes challenges. pic.twitter.com/oUL4A0h3Ku
— Matt Finn (@MattFinnFNC) November 4, 2020
Matt Finn, a Fox News producer wrote, “Some of the windows remain blocked off. I asked a few people who taped them up and why, no clear answer. A few poll challengers / workers tell us they feel there wasn’t a fair number of (Republicans and Democrats) in this room.”
The Trump campaign has filed suit, arguing they were not given access to the counting process and were thus demanding the vote be stopped until adequate accommodations were granted.
A worker used large pieces of cardboard to cover the windows, preventing those outside from seeing what was going on. Other workers used pizza boxes to block the door windows as some chanted “stop the vote” outside the venue:
The windows blocked in TCF Center to prevent poll watchers#Detroit #Michigan #Elections2020
Source: @ericjgibbs pic.twitter.com/kGzjCY6ZMY
— Global News (@GlbBreakNews) November 4, 2020
Other video showed Detroit police protecting the doors, preventing observers from entering:
Poll watchers try to get into the ballot counting area in #Detroit #Michigan #Elections2020
Source: @TheInsiderPaper pic.twitter.com/ZQJoYYGarU
— Global News (@GlbBreakNews) November 4, 2020
As tension grew, a representative of the Detroit health department sought to clear the lobby of the counting area, further angering the watchers:
#BREAKING: Large, animated crush of “stop the count” protestors trying to push their way into TCF hall in #Detroit where ballots are being counted.
They’re being blocked by guards at the door.
Pizza boxes are pushed against the window to obstruct view. It’s tense. @NBCNews pic.twitter.com/zFhzd88skX
— Steve Patterson (@PattersonNBC) November 4, 2020
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson previously said vote counting could take until Friday. On Wednesday, she estimated it could be complete tonight.
With 99 percent of the vote counted, Biden leads Trump by more than 60,000 votes, according to the Detroit News.
Kyle Olson is a reporter for Breitbart News. He is also host of “The Kyle Olson Show,” syndicated on Michigan radio stations on Saturdays. Listen to segments on YouTube or download full podcast episodes. Follow him on Twitter, like him on Facebook, and follow him on Parler.
…..Negress sheriff refuses court order to allow observers
Philadelphia Sheriff Not Enforcing Court Order on Poll Observers, Trump Campaign Says
Trump campaign officials said on Thursday that the Philadelphia sheriff is refusing to enforce a judge’s order that compels election officials to allow Republican observers adequate access to monitor the ballot count.
Earlier on Thursday, Commonwealth Judge Christine Fizzano Cannon, a Democrat, ordered that effective immediately “all candidates, watchers, or candidate representatives be permitted to be present for the canvassing process … and be permitted to observe all aspects of the canvassing process within 6 feet.”
Trump campaign associate Pam Bondi told reporters outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center on Thursday afternoon that the election officials inside have moved the barricade within 6 feet of the counting area but defied the court order by moving all of the counting machines to the back of the building where they cannot be seen.
“They are still not in compliance,” Bondi said. “It’s unbelievable what they are trying to do to our votes that have been legally cast.”
“They will not let us see anything,” Bondi added. “Now, we’re going to take further remedy to fix this.”
“They are defying a court order by a judge and this is not the last of this.”
Trump campaign associate Corey Lewandowski said that a private attorney inside the building informed the Republican poll observers that “she would determine if the court order was valid or not.”
“They have eight attorneys fighting us to see these ballots inside,” Lewandowski said. “The court order is in effect. They will not give us access and the sheriff has decided not to come down here to enforce that court order.”
The Office of Philadelphia Sheriff Rochelle Bilal, a Democrat, did not respond to a voicemail left with the office of its public information officer.
Trump campaign officials said on Nov. 4 that observers had been forced to watch ballots being counted from as far away as 100 feet. Election officials used a barricade and some type of security guard to keep observers from getting closer, Bondi told reporters on Nov. 4
The Philadelphia City Commissioners said in a statement that the vote count was resuming just after noon, following “a brief pause” in light of the ongoing litigation. “It has resumed in accordance with the law,” it said.
The city appealed the ruling to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
According to the appeal asking for an emergency review, the ruling “is wrong, and because it jeopardizes both the safety of the City Defendants’ canvass, plus the privacy of voters, immediate allowance of appeal is warranted.”
A spokeswoman for the court didn’t respond to an inquiry.
Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes are up for grabs, with Trump in the lead and Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden not yet out of the running.
Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court earlier this year ruled that any ballots received by Nov. 6 and either postmarked by Nov. 3 or not definitively postmarked after Election Day must be counted.
According to unofficial results from the Pennsylvania Department of State on Thursday morning, Trump was ahead with 3.2 million votes to Biden’s 3 million.
Trump said late Wednesday that he won Pennsylvania.
Biden’s campaign has said they’re confident the final tally will see the Democrat on top.
Zachary Stieber and Allen Zhong contributed to this report.
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