Michigan
Michigan’s vote certification process, explained
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First-time voter in the 2024 election decided to not vote for a president, citing the war in the Middle East as the reason.
Michigan voters have cast their ballots. With Election Day over, the process of transforming unofficial election results into certified outcomes begins.
Here’s a look at the next phase of the elections process:
County boards of canvassers certify election results
In Michigan’s 83 counties, bipartisan boards of county canvassers, each made up of two Democrats and two Republicans, will review election materials, including poll books and vote totals, and meet to certify the results. At the conclusion of the canvass, they review the countywide vote totals and sign a certificate reporting the results. They have 14 days after the election to get the job done, making the deadline Nov. 19 this year.
But if unofficial results show a margin of victory less than 25,000 votes in the presidential election statewide, county boards of canvassers must expedite that schedule. The Michigan Secretary of State can direct county canvassing boards to certify the presidential election results by the seventh day after the election or sometime before the 14th day after the election.
If a county board fails to make its deadline, the Board of State Canvassers will take over and complete the county canvass. The county will bear the cost for completing the canvass.
Michigan’s Board of State Canvassers certifies statewide results
After the results of all 83 Michigan counties have been certified, the Board of State Canvassers, made up of two Democrats and two Republicans, will meet to certify the statewide results and the results of any races that cross county lines (for instance, a congressional or state legislative district that spans multiple counties).
The state board has 20 days until after the election to certify the results, which makes this year’s deadline Nov. 25. That date can be sooner, again at the secretary of state’s discretion, if the presidential election had a margin of victory less than 25,000 votes.
Presidential electors convene
The board of state canvassers’ certification — pending any recount requests — marks the end of the road for most election results. But not the presidential race. After the state board certifies Michigan’s statewide presidential results, the governor must issue a certificate with the names of the state’s presidential electors at least six days before the electors convene. The governor must transmit the certificate to each elector and the archivist of the United States. During party conventions, Michigan’s political parties choose their candidates for electors of president and vice president. These candidates have usually been involved as party activists for years.
Michigan’s presidential electors must convene at 2 p.m. in the Michigan Senate chamber on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December after the election. This year, that’s Dec. 17. On that day, they will formally cast their votes for president and vice president.
Congress certifies presidential election
On Jan. 6, Congress will meet to tally the Electoral College votes. The vice president serves as the presiding officer of that joint session. Each state is called in alphabetical order and lawmakers can raise objections to a state’s slate of electors, which require the support of one-fifth of the members in each chamber to be considered. For a state’s slate of electors not to count, both chambers of Congress would have to sustain an objection.
This final step in determining the winner of the presidential election received little attention until 2021, when supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the Capitol to stop Congress from certifying the results. It was a violent day that broke a long tradition of the peaceful transition of presidential power in the U.S.
Contact Clara Hendrickson: chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on X, previously called Twitter, @clarajanehen.
Looking for more on Michigan’s elections this year? Check out our voter guide, subscribe to our elections newsletter and always feel free to share your thoughts in a letter to the editor.
Washington ― At least two Michigan Democrats skipped President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address on Tuesday night ― Sen. Gary Peters and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell.
Dingell of Ann Arbor said she would still watch “every second” of the Republican president’s speech.
“I just didn’t want to be part of the drama,” Dingell told The Detroit News. “I want to listen and have a real dialogue about what he says.”
Peters also didn’t attend the State of the Union last year. His office said the senator believes Trump’s address will “unfortunately not provide a truthful or productive vision to help address the problems facing our communities.”
The Bloomfield Township lawmaker, who is not seeking reelection, later criticized the speech after Trump finished delivering his remarks.
“Instead of calling for unity to make progress on the issues we all face as Americans, President Trump used his address to the nation to air out his personal grievances and attack those who are working to hold him accountable,” Peters wrote on social media.
“Whether it’s raising costs or violating our laws, Michiganders are tired of the chaos that the President is bringing to their everyday life. Unfortunately, tonight’s speech was simply an extension of what we’ve come to expect from President Trump,” he added.
Other Michigan Democrats were inside the House chamber for the annual address, including Rep. Rashida Tlaib, who wore a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf and a pin reading, “F— ICE” in reference to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
At one point, she was yelling at Trump from the audience that he is killing U.S. citizens, as the president criticized Democrats for blocking funding for the Department of Homeland Security, the agency that houses ICE.
U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, was spotted sitting next to Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly. She and Kelly were among six Democratic lawmakers the Trump administration investigated and unsuccessfully attempted to indict over a video urging members of the military not to comply with unlawful orders.
The freshman senator has vowed to “stay on offense” after the indictment attempt, characterizing the episode as an instance of Trump trying to weaponize the Justice Department against his political foes.
Despite that conflict with the president, Slotkin still opted to attend and brought Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield to the speech as her guest.
“I felt it was important as Michigan’s senator to go,” Slotkin told The Detroit News in an interview ahead of the speech. “I was elected on the same ballot as Donald Trump, and as much as I have fundamental problems with many things that he’s doing, this is an American tradition, and I’m an American senator.”
Asked to assess how Trump’s leadership is helping or hurting Michigan, Slotkin criticized the president’s inability to bring down the cost of living, his “sloppy, back-and-forth tariffs” affecting the state’s farmers and manufacturers, and his “unnecessary” fight with Canada over the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge.
“There’s no doubt about it that turning the ship of the economy is hard,” she said, recalling difficulties the Biden administration faced.
“But here’s the difference: Donald Trump has been bold and declared emergencies, like, over a dozen times in the past year. He’s declared an emergency against Canada, but he hasn’t declared a housing emergency. He hasn’t put the same bold energy into attacking costs the way he spent time attacking his political enemies.”
Reps. Haley Stevens of Birmingham and Hillary Scholten of Grand Rapids sat together. Rep. Shri Thanedar of Detroit also planned to attend, his office said.
Rep. Kristen McDonald Rivet, D-Bay City, said earlier Tuesday that she was looking forward to hearing Trump address affordability issues for Americans struggling with high costs.
“I’m going into the chamber to listen to the speech with open ears about ways we can partner to actually deliver for these American families,” McDonald Rivet said.
mburke@detroitnews.com
gschwab@detroitnews.com
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Iowa has figured some things out.
The Hawkeyes looked like one of the best teams in the country on Jan. 25, when they won their eighth consecutive game and started Big Ten play 9-0 after a win over Ohio State. But in that victory, Jan Jensen’s squad lost starting guard Taylor McCabe for the season to a knee injury. In the games that followed, Iowa seemed lost without her, losing three straight.
However, since their last defeat to Minnesota on Feb. 5, the Hawkeyes have now won four consecutive games – culminating on Sunday, Feb. 22, with a win over nationally ranked Michigan. Iowa has now won six straight over Michigan and held the Wolverines to a season-low 44 points on Sunday.
For their recent surge, voters in the USA TODAY Sports women’s basketball coaches poll moved Iowa up three spots this week and into the top 10. The Hawkeyes check in at No. 9 and the Wolverines are No. 8 after falling three spots.
Louisville and Ole Miss also fell three spots each this week. The No. 11-ranked Cardinals were upset at home on Sunday by unranked Virginia, while the No. 20 Rebels have lost two straight to LSU and South Carolina.
Aside from Iowa, the only other team to rise three spots was North Carolina. The Tar Heels check in at No. 18 after wins over Virginia Tech and Pitt last week.
The top four remained unchanged with UConn, UCLA, South Carolina and Texas holding down their rankings. Tennessee, which has lost seven of its last nine games, fell out of the poll and Iowa State reentered at No. 25.
No teams from mid-major conferences were ranked this week, but Princeton was 26th in votes received with 29. Rhode Island, North Dakota State and Rice – which has won 19 straight games – also received votes.
Michigan
Michigan college student vanishes during ‘absolute blizzard’ after leaving bar and looking ‘disoriented’
A desperate search was launched for a missing Michigan college student last seen looking ‘disoriented’ after leaving a bar during a weekend snowstorm, according to authorities.
Northern Michigan University student Trenton Massey was spotted on video in Marquette just before 3:20 a.m. local time on Sunday while appearing “to be disoriented and having difficulty walking,” the Marquette Police Department said.
It was roughly 20 degrees when the 21-year-old student disappeared, and snow had been falling in the area for the past several days, Christopher Aldrich, the Captain of Detectives of the Marquette Police Department, told People.
He may have been disoriented because he was drinking alcohol earlier in the night, and may have been affected by the frigid temperatures, Aldrich said.
“At this point, we are still actively looking for him,” the police official told the outlet.
Hundreds joined a search party to find Massey, including NMU student Ryder Amesbury, WLUC reported.
Amesbury met Massey at a bar on the night he vanished, then woke up only to discover a picture of the fellow Wildcat as a missing person.
“It’s scary,” Amesbury told the outlet.
“It was an absolute blizzard that night. Like, I walked home, and I got lost walking home. So, it’s horrible to hear and obviously see, but it’s amazing to see how many people came out here to help search for him.”
Massey was last seen wearing an olive green and black jacket and dark pants, cops said.
Police are now asking residents and businesses in a red-shaded area on a map released by authorities to check any surveillance camera footage from 3:25 a.m. on Sunday onward for any signs of Massey.
Locals should also check their property, including vehicles, for any signs of the missing student.
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