Michigan Democrats face mounting calls for a full recount after their vote-by-phone endorsement convention in Detroit descended into chaos, with over 200 ineligible ballots cast and multiple voters using the same phone number to cast ballots, according to a formal filing obtained by the Detroit News.
Convention Plagued by ‘Material Errors’
Democratic State Senator Sylvia Santana’s campaign filed a formal appeal demanding an audit and recount after discovering widespread irregularities in the voting process. The filing alleges Michigan Democratic Party leadership failed to enforce rules requiring voters to be physically present at Detroit’s Huntington Place convention center. Location data revealed more than 200 votes came from outside the venue, raising serious questions about election integrity.
The problems extended far beyond remote voting. Santana’s team identified 302 voters who never appeared on the party’s master voting list. Perhaps most troubling, 208 people shared the same cellphone number with at least one other voter, including six members linked to a single phone number. This system allowed individuals to cast multiple votes, completely undermining the democratic process.
Top Democrats Demand Accountability
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, herself a Democrat, backed calls for an audit after discovering the Election Buddy app incorrectly recorded her own votes and congressional district. Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, who lost the attorney general nomination at the convention, issued a statement confirming votes were incorrectly recorded, some weren’t counted at all, and people voted remotely despite being required to attend in person.
Santana finished third place in the race for a Michigan State University Board of Trustees position. Her campaign contends she would have won by 50 votes if ineligible ballots cast from outside the convention center had been properly excluded. At least 16 cases of votes being recorded incorrectly or not recorded at all were discovered during the post-convention review.
Republicans Pounce on Election Integrity Failure
The Michigan Republican Party immediately seized on the convention disaster, highlighting what they called Democrats’ hypocrisy on election integrity. “Democrats can’t even secure their own internal elections. What a mess!” the Michigan GOP wrote on social media. The party noted that hundreds of ineligible voters participated in the Democratic endorsement convention, with losing candidates now taking legal action and claiming elections were stolen from them. The filing states the Democratic Party failed its responsibility to run a procedurally fair and transparent convention that complies with its own rules and regulations.
