Executive Transmission of Disputed Certification to Congress While Active Litigation and Special Master Demands Were Pending (MI)

Michigan’s executive branch transmitted its Certificate of Ascertainment to the National Archives and Congress while lawful certification in Wayne County remained actively disputed: (a) Republican canvassers Monica Palmer and William Hartmann had initially refused to certify, citing 71 unbalanced absentee vote counting boards; (b) both canvassers subsequently executed affidavits claiming their ultimate signatures were obtained under duress; (c) multiple lawsuits demanding a Special Master review and enjoining transmission of the certification were pending in Michigan courts. Congress received Michigan’s electoral certification without any executive disclosure of the legal disputes, the canvasser affidavits of duress, or the 71 unbalanced counting boards underlying the original refusal to certify – any one of which would have materially informed Congress’s deliberation