Michigan's attorney general is calling for an independent audit of the results of the convention where Michigan Democrats selected candidates for some statewide offices.
Attorney General Dana Nessel, a term-limited Democrat, said in a statement that the online voting platform used at the Michigan Democratic Party's spring endorsement convention did not accurately attribute her votes or congressional district.
State Sen. Sylvia Santana is appealing the results of a Michigan State University Board of Trustees race she narrowly lost at the convention after voting data reviewed by the campaign shows more than 200 votes may have been cast remotely, The Detroit News reported Monday. Delegates endorsed incumbent Trustees Brianna Scott and Kelly Tebay at the convention.
But Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, who lost her campaign for secretary of state at the convention, said location data sourced from IP addresses is unreliable.
She said one of her campaign's representatives was sitting next to her backstage when he voted. But the data shows that he voted from 20 miles away.
A Michigan Democratic Party staff member tasked with overseeing the tabulation was shown in the data as having voted from Houston, Texas, despite multiple campaign representatives seeing them at Huntington Place the day of the convention, Byrum said.
Data showing a vote was cast from Montenegro could have been the result of a delegate using a VPN, she added.
Byrum said enforcing the requirement that delegates vote from within the convention hall likely would have created additional issues.
"If the system had prevented folks from voting whose IP addresses were showing elsewhere, there likely would have been major issues, which likely would have disenfranchised voters at this endorsement convention," Byrum said.
But if it can be proven, Byrum said, those who broke the rules should face consequences from the Michigan Democratic Party.
Michigan Democratic Party spokesperson Derrick Honeyman says the party will ensure the appeals process is fair and independent.
The MIGOP seized the opportunity to criticize the Michigan Democratic Party, saying in a tweet Monday that "Democrats can't even secure their own internal elections" and calling it "a mess."
But Nessel said the process at the convention is nothing like elections run by the state.
"Those drawing a false equivalency are also the same ones telling you not to trust Michigan's election system, which includes paper ballots, audits and bipartisan certification at the local and state level," Nessel said. "Those who traffic in election conspiracies will seek any and every opportunity to undermine public confidence in our elections, and while an audit is warranted in this circumstance, these results have no bearings on the veracity of state-run elections."
Byrum said the situation "clearly merits some reflection" by the Michigan Democratic Party about how to update the procedures for future conventions.
The Michigan Democratic Party and MIGOP will officially nominate candidates for secretary of state, attorney general and university boards in August. But both parties held early endorsement conventions meant to give candidates a head start in the general election.
Byrum said a prolonged fight over the convention results could create continued divisions within the party.
"It definitely takes away from the desire for Democrats to come together and unify," Byrum said. "It definitely makes it difficult to move on."
Honeyman said all candidates at the endorsement convention were required to sign a document certifying that they would honor its results and wouldn't seek the nomination in August if they failed to earn the party's endorsement.
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