Hamtramck's 37 mishandled ballots shouldn't be counted, judge rules
A judge ruled Tuesday that 37 untabulated ballots in Hamtramck’s disputed municipal election should not be counted, affirming Adam Alharbi’s controversial and narrow victory in the race for mayor.
However, the decision is likely only the starting gun for a legal race against the clock before the city’s new mayor is sworn in at the beginning of January.
In her written decision Tuesday, Judge Patricia Perez Fresard of the Third Judicial Circuit of Michigan said that the Wayne County Board of Canvassers “exercised its discretion” when declining to count the 37 ballots after the city clerk “failed to comply with mandatory requirements imposed to protect the integrity of ballots.”
Fresard had initially ordered the parties to meet to see if they could come to a resolution. That failed, attorneys said, leading to just over 20 minutes of courtroom debate Tuesday, primarily between lawyers for Alharbi and his opponent in the mayoral race, City Council member Muhith Mahmood, who finished 11 votes behind.
https://michiganadvance.com/2025/12/24/hamtramcks-37-mishandled-ballots-shouldnt-be-counted-judge-rules/
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