On Monday 11/23/2020 the Michigan State Board of Canvassers held a 3+ hour virtual meeting broadcast live, in order to certify the election results. They did certify them. https://youtu.be/LDuQquoM4sQ
Here are some notable pieces of the transcript.
Daniel Baxter, a longtime employee for the government who has been involved in elections since 1985, stated they hired 4,000 people and paid many of them $600 per 8 hour shift.
Norman Shinkle, who is on the Michigan State Board of Canvassers, questioned Baxter about why 100 Republican applicants were denied jobs, and Baxter did not have an answer.
Raw Script
Daniel Baxter–former ___ for election for city of Detroit.
2:00PM EST (Roughly 1 hour into the livestream)
I was in charge of tabulation of absentee ballots
City clerk asked me whether I would assist in this monumental endeavor. I was certainly honored to accept that opportunity, and as such..along with many others—we sat down and had a conversation in terms of what elements were needed to ensure efficiency and accuracy with the tabulation of ballots for absentee ballots.
Make sure we didn’t run into some of the challenges–not having enough staff to man the operation. Staff leaving without tabulating all of the ballots. Recruitment operation—-younger & more energetic central county board –divine 9 –black sororities—reached out to churches, reached out to businesses–blue cross blue shield—-wayne countyh communit yhcollege , and also city of detroit employees, everyday citizens. More than 4,000 people who applied to assist us. We ran a season of a pandemic, we upped the ante in terms of pay paid inspectors $600 for the day. We implemented shifts.
Implemented electronic poll booth. Hands on training. Employed all of our supervisors. Trained 8-10 hours to make sure they understood every aspect of the operation. Report to the TCF center and be trained alongside those poll workers that they would be working with on election day. Allowed them to use the electronic poll book to follow every step, in opening, processing and closing. Processing an absentee ballot. To process the high volume, increased the use of high speed tabulators. 18 machines to 25. For primary electio nalso increased adjudication stations from 9 to 13. From wed sept 23 to saturday october 31st.
From nov 2 to nov 4th, it was perhaps one of the most exciting and engaging endevears since working here.
Started working here in 1985. First job was a PLC -political organizations coordinator 1985-1995–central county board–2005– in charge of every aspect of that organization. I’ve witnessed so many changes. Punch card to electronic voting systems. Witness a write-in candidate election–amazing feat. 2008 be a part of that entire operation where so many people engaged in voting in the first time.
Nothing compares to the experience that I had and many people had at the TCR center those days. It was a time of great pride for the city of Detroit. No matter what happened on election day, whether they were violating social distancing rules, or stood in the middle of the processing center without their mask on, nothing deterred our poll workers from staying engaged.
Last week when the board of canvassers decided to certify, I was glad that they did. One offered a public comment and explained the process with complete accuracy. Demonstrate the integrity of the process.
Every day since 1985 when you enter in the department of elections, on the wall is a quote from Abraham Lincolns gettysburg address–of the people, by the people, for the people.
What’s happening outside the building, we don’t deal with that. We are a nonpartisan operation to ensure every vote counts.
2:09pm EST
Norman Shinkle
After the election was over, was there anything off by 600 votes? The count boards, were any of them out of balance?
Baxter: We had 3 counting boards that did not report as of Wednesday night, and those 3 were re-run during the canvass, and it would appear that the difference exceeded 600. So when they re-rean they were processed and included in the official report.
Norman: So they were balanced at the end?
Baxter: The other two may not have been in balance, upon certification.
Norman: The additional poll book list, when was that finalized? That was finalized on election day, on November 3rd.
Baxter: The electronic poll book was produced on Nov 1st. On Nov 2nd, we employed the electronic poll book. Then on Nov 3rd we produced the supplementals in the event that any of the poll workers when processing absentee ballots had any issues if the name wasn’t in the electronic poll book. If not in the poll, book, could look it up in the supplemental book.
Norman Shinkle: Is there any reason that these lists were delivered 13 days after the election? Is that true?
Baxter: No I’m not aware of that.
Shinkle: are you aware of hiring?
134 Republicans
Baxter: there were not 134 Republicans at the central county board. There
Shinkle:
Baxter: When we went to recruit Republicans poll workers, we could not get the allotted number at each of the stations, as such we had to govern ourselves based on SOP, meaning we moved forward with the tabulation of absentee ballots with the staff we received, recruited and trained.
Shinkle: list of 100 Republican people who applied, were told we don’t need them
Baxter: I’m not aware of that.