After Georgia, President Donald Trump received another blow on Friday to his effort to overturn his election loss, when Michigan Republicans said after a White House meeting they had learned nothing to warrant reversing the outcome of their state.
“We will follow the law and follow the normal process regarding Michigan’s electors, just as we have said throughout this election,” Michigan Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R) and Speaker of the House Lee Chatfield (R) said in a joint statement late Friday.
“We have not yet been made aware of any information that would change the outcome of the election in Michigan,” the state’s top two GOP lawmakers wrote in their joint statement, refusing to endorse President Trump’s baseless claims of widespread fraud in the state.
“Michigan’s certification process should be a deliberate process free from threats and intimidation.
“Allegations of fraudulent behavior should be taken seriously, thoroughly investigated, and if proven, prosecuted to the full extent of the law. And the canidates who win the most votes win elections and Michigan’s electoral votes. These are simple truths that should confidence in our elections,” they added.
Trump tried to intervene in Michigan to stall the state’s certification of the vote, set to be considered at a meeting on Monday. Trump had hoped that the GOP-controlled legislature would appoint pro-Trump electors to the electoral college.
Biden won Michigan by more than 156,000 votes, more than 14 times the Trump win margin in 2016.
But two top Republicans in Michigan said they used the meeting with Trump to press him for more coronavirus relief funds.
Earlier on Friday, Republican Governor Brian Kemp signed the paperwork that officially grants the state’s 16 electoral votes to President-elect Joe Biden.
In an email to CNN, Tate Mitchell said: “The Gorvernor has formalized the certification delivered to our office by the Secretary of State — as is required by state law.”
State law required Kemp to award Georgia’s electoral votes to the certified winner of the presidential election.
A federal judge on Thursday rejected a last-minute lawsuit that tried to block the certification of the result.
“Earlier today, Secretary Raffensperger presented the certified results of the 2020 general election to my office,” Kemp said at a news conference.
“Following Judge Grimsberg’s ruling yesterday, state law now requires the governor’s office to formalize the certification, which paves the way for the Trump campaign to pursue other legal options and a separate recount if they choose,” Kemp said, adding that “As governor, I have a solemn responsibility to follow the law, and that is what I will do.”
Earlier on Friday, Georgia secretary of state certified Biden victory in the state, dealing the first blow to President Donald Trump who had hoped that a hand recount completed on Wednesday was going to favor him but did not.
In the final presidential election results certified by Georgia Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger, Biden won the state with a margin of 12,670 votes or 0.25 percent. The President-elect received 2.47 million votes and Trump got 2.46 million votes. Libertarian Jo Jorgensen received 62,138 votes.
“Working as an engineer throughout my life, I live by the motto that numbers don’t lie,” said Raffensperger, who is a Republican and Georgia’s top election official.
The certification followed a hand recount of the state’s five million votes that Mr. Raffensperger ordered after it was requested by the Trump campaign.
Biden is the first Democratic presidential nominee to carry Georgia since 1992.
“Georgia’s historic first statewide audit reaffirmed that the state’s new secure paper ballot voting system accurately counted and reported results,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a statement on Wednesday. “This is a credit to the hard work of our county and local elections officials who moved quickly to undertake and complete such a momentous task in a short period of time.”
Biden’s initial margin of victory narrowed slightly from about 14000 votes because of a few human errors uncovered during the recount.
The hand recount dashed President Donald Trump’s hope of winning Georgia after a hand recount.
Under state law, Raffensperger was required to certify the election results by 5 p.m. on Friday, and Republican governor Brian Kemp had until 5 p.m. on Saturday to certify the state’s 16 presidential electors. He did not wait until Saturday.
Simon Ateba is Chief White House Correspondent for Today News Africa. Simon covers President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, the U.S. government, the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and other financial and international institutions in Washington D.C. and New York City.