Michigan officially certifies Biden as winner of state presidential election
Former Vice President Joe Biden. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
November 23, 2020 Laura Widener
Michigan election officials voted to officially certify Joe Biden as the winner of the state's presidential race.
The Board of State Canvassers, comprised of two Democrats and two Republicans, voted to certify the win for Joe Biden in a vote of 3-0, with one abstaining.
Biden had secured 2,804,040 votes in the state, amassing 50.63% of the vote, while President Donald Trump received 2,649,852 votes for 47.85%.
Biden's 154,000-vote, 2.8 percent margin was larger than his margin in Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania – four other states where Trump waged measures to contest the results.
Aaron Van Langevelde, the board's Republican vice chair, said, "We have a duty to certify this election based on these returns. That is very clear. We are limited to these returns. I'm not going to argue that we're not."
The Republican National Committee and the state's Republican Party had urged the board to delay the certification for 14 days until an investigation could be conducted on alleged voting irregularities in Wayne County – the state's largest county and seat to Detroit.
Protesters had gathered at the state's capital on Monday in support of delaying the certification.
Trump campaign legal adviser Jenna Ellis said in a statement, "Certification by state officials is simply a procedural step. We are going to continue combatting election fraud around the country as we fight to count all the legal votes. Americans must be assured that the final results are fair and legitimate."
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement, "The people of Michigan have spoken. President-elect Biden won the State of Michigan by more than 154,000 votes, and he will be our next president on January 20th."
Georgia also certified the state's election results in favor of Biden on Friday.
In Pennsylvania, a judge ruled against the Trump campaign's legal challenge. The Trump campaign appealed, however, requesting urgent consideration from the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia to challenge the state's election results.
The Trump campaign's challenge in Pennsylvania focuses on seven Democratic-majority counties in which they allege mail-in ballots were mishandled.
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