Two Republicans in Michigan on the Wayne County Board of Canvassers have filed affidavits seeking to rescind their votes to certify the county’s election results, citing threats and harassment they received.
As The Daily Wire reported Wednesday, the pair initially caused a deadlock with two Democrats when they voted against certification, only to reverse course and vote to certify the election.
The Republicans argued in their affidavits that their Democratic colleagues allegedly reneged on a promise to audit votes in Detroit. Aside from apparently being misled, the Republicans also claimed to have received threats and harassment from Democrats and community members.
Republican William C. Hartmann’s affidavit, for example, notes that he and fellow Republican Monica Palmer “were berated and ridiculed by members of the public and other board members.”
“This conduct included specious claims that I was racially motivated in my decision,” he said. “The public ostracism continued for hours …”
Palmer’s affidavit noted threats she received to herself and her family.
“After the vote, public comment period began and dozens of people made personal remarks against me and Mr. Hartmann,” Palmer said. “The comments made accusations of racism and threatened me and members of my family. The public comment continued for over two hours and I felt pressured to continue the meeting without a break.”
The Republican added that her “Democratic colleagues chided me and Mr. Hartmann for voting to not certify.”
“Last night was heartbreaking,” Palmer told The Washington Post. “I sat in that chair for two hours listening to people attack me.”
During the public Zoom meeting that took place before Palmer and Hartmann reversed course to certify the election, Abraham Aiyash, a Democrat Michigan state representative-elect, spoke of Palmer’s children and named their school as he berated her for being a “racist.”
The Federalist reports:
“You, Ms. Monica Palmer from Grosse Pointe Woods, which has a history of racism, are deciding to enable and continue to perpetuate the racist history of this country and I want you to think about what that means for your kids,” he said, name-dropping the name of their school and talking about the impact her decision would have on their black classmates.
Another Michigan man, identified as Ned Staebler, raised eyebrows when he mentioned the grandchildren of the two Republicans, seemingly threatened them with forthcoming harassment, and suggested they would go to hell for voting to halt certification.
“I’m not gonna try to change your mind, I just wanna let you know, the Trump stink, the stain of racism, that you, William Hartmann and Monica Palmer, have just covered yourselves in, is gonna follow you throughout history,” Staebler said, as reported by The Daily Wire. “Your grandchildren are gonna think of you as Bull Connor or George Wallace.”
“Monica Palmer and William Hartmann will forever be known in southeastern Michigan as two racists who did something so unprecedented that they disenfranchised hundreds of thousands of black voters in the city of Detroit because they were ordered to — probably, I know, Monica, you think ‘Q’ told you to do it, or some other crazy stuff like that,” he continued.
“But just know, when you try to sleep tonight, that millions of people around the world now on Twitter know the name Monica Palmer and William Hartmann as two people completely racist and without an understanding of what integrity means or a shred of human decency. The law isn’t on your side, history won’t be on your side, your conscience will not be on your side, and Lord knows, when you go to meet your maker, your soul is going to be very, very warm,” Staebler closed.
The man later celebrated the reversal online: “POWER TO THE PEOPLE!!! The Wayne County Board of Canvassers has certified the election results!!!” he wrote on Twitter.