GOP leaders want Wayne County audit before Michigan election results are certified

Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel and Michigan Republican Party Chair Laura Cox in a Saturday letter urged the Michigan Board of State Canvassers to order an audit into Wayne County's results prior to the election results being certified.

"This board faces a stark choice: it can either ignore numerical anomalies and credible reports of procedural irregularities, leaving the distrust and sense of procedural disenfranchisement felt by many Michigan voters to fester for years; or it can adjourn for fourteen days to allow for a full audit and investigation into those anomalies and irregularities before certifying the results of the 2020 General Election, allowing all Michiganders to have confidence in the results," they wrote in the letter.

The two expressed support for Republican Senate candidate John James's campaign, which called for a pre-certification audit of Wayne County's results.

"The people of Michigan deserve to have confidence in the integrity of elections in Michigan and how votes are counted, and the John James for US Senate campaign believes that this Board has a unique opportunity to answer the cries for help from Wayne County and conduct the complete pre-certification audit of Wayne County’s 2020 election results as agreed to by the Wayne County Board of Canvassers," a filing from counsel to the James campaign stated.

According to Michigan Radio, Michigan Department of State spokesperson Jake Rollow in a statement said that an audit could only come after certification of results.

“Candidates have a right to request a recount after election certification, and if a recount were to find a different winner, that could indeed change the outcome of the election," Rollow reportedly said. "Audits play a different role in Michigan elections - to examine and identify errors for future improvement - and Michigan law prohibits audits prior to state certification of election results. As stated earlier this week, multiple audits are already planned after certification has occurred."