DETROIT – Republican poll challengers swear that Democrats at TCF Center ignored, insulted, intimidated, threatened, ejected, and excluded them.
Their affidavits form the basis of a complaint that President Trump’s campaign filed at U.S. court for Michigan’s western district on Nov. 11.
Campaign counsel Thor Hearne of Clayton, Mo. petitioned for an order to prohibit certification of any vote tally that includes invalid ballots.
Hearne specified fraudulent ballots, those tabulated on equipment without determining its accuracy, those received after Election Day, and those counted when challengers were excluded or denied a meaningful opportunity to observe.
He asserted Western District jurisdiction because the primary defendant, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, works in Lansing.
“There is a difference between a ballot and a vote,” Hearne wrote. “A ballot is a piece of paper. A vote is a ballot that that has been completed by a citizen registered to vote who has the right to cast a vote and has done so in compliance with Michigan election law.”
He attached more than 100 affidavits of challengers, many stating that officials violated virus restrictions that they enforced against Republicans. Many also stated that:
-Workers cheered and clapped when police removed challengers.
-Workers covered windows of the counting room with cardboard.
-They saw manual entries with birth dates of 01-01-1900.
-Workers wouldn’t give names or credentials.
Matt Seely, a plaintiff in the action, stated that the most efficient tables could process about 100 ballots an hour.
He stated that at no time was every table counting ballots, and at most times 50 to 100 tables were counting.
“Given these observations, I do not understand how over one hundred thousand ballots could have been counted during the times the TCF Center was used as a counting location,” Seely stated.
Diana Burton stated that on Monday, Nov. 2, ballots began to disappear from the problem box and a supervisor said they would be dealt with on Tuesday.
She stated that on Tuesday, a truck drove into the hall and she saw two men carrying white plastic bins full of opened ballots.
She stated that a supervisor told her they were blank ballots and they needed more blank ballots because they ran out.
John Downing of Lawyers for Trump stated that when workers opened ballots with Trump votes, they rolled their eyes and showed the ballots to other workers.
Downing stated a belief that some of them changed votes that were cast for Trump.
He stated that workers gathered and the meeting ended with a cheer.
He stated that a team leader yelled, “This is our house tonight,” at 11:43 p.m.
“At approximately midnight, I heard this same man say racist remarks about black people who support Donald Trump,” Downing stated. “I believe these remarks were directed at me.”
He stated that about 4 a.m., a worker announced that 50 boxes of ballots were coming in and workers cheered.
Downing didn’t represent the campaign and no one else did, because city clerk Janice Winfrey denied Trump’s request to send representatives.
Kathleen Daavettila stated that remarks were noted in the computer that numbers didn’t match, “and then the ballot was processed anyway.”
“If I took a step closer to the table to get a better view of the ballot, if another Republican walked by the table or stopped to ask me a question, if my mask started to slip and show the top part of my nostril, multiple times I was told I was going to get kicked out if any of those things happened again,” she stated.
“My husband and I checked out at 3:57 p.m., as I was in fear of safety for myself and my unborn baby.”
She stated that they left through a back exit, directed by police.
Jazmine Early stated that a worker remarked that she shouldn’t take part in the process because English wasn’t her first language.
She stated that five police officers surrounded her and told her she was too close.
She stated that she observed military ballots being duplicated and it wasn’t clear what happened to the original ballots.
She stated that at 12:08 a.m. Wednesday, she observed 42 unattended tables with ballots at them.
She stated that at 5:17 a.m., she saw trays being loaded into a Penske rental truck with Indiana plates.
She stated she inquired what was on them and she was told blank ballots.
Erik Duus stated that at 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday, ballots began arriving from a Department of Elections vehicle.
“It was estimated that the delivery contained at least 24,000 ballots based on guess of numbers of bundles,” Dunn stated.
He stated that processing activity seemed to increase after the delivery.
He stated that two large men followed him the entire night, even to the restroom and back.
“I felt totally outnumbered and that my personal safety was at risk,” Dunn stated.
He stated that before his shift ended he snuck out and went quickly to his car.
Emily Steffans stated that she asked why a ballot was placed in a particular box and was told she wasn’t allowed to talk to a poll worker.
She stated that a Democrat volunteer accused her of being part of a cult.
She stated that she told a worker a Republican needed to see duplications and the worker got the police.
She stated that she had watched two GOP people escorted out by police, and that made her afraid to pursue the issue or challenge ballots.
Ulrike Sherer stated that no one compared signatures on absentee ballots.
She stated that each worker was supposed to have a separate job in verification but each of them just opened ballots and put them in a tabulation box.
She stated that for one group of ballots there was no postmark verification, or review for stray marks, or verification of a voter’s existence in the database.
Jacqueline Zaplitny stated that there didn’t seem to be any uniformity as to how poll workers processed ballots or any compliance with ballot verification.
She stated that at 2:30 a.m., there were no ballots on tables or in circulation.
She stated that she asked if counting was concluded and, “The supervisor then stated that a big door would open for a new delivery.”
David Pontiek stated that there was a bin marked “problem ballots” and that he asked “George” the table captain where they were going.
He stated that George said they’d be further looked at, and that he asked George if he could get the numbers on them.
He stated that George would only allow him to get the number of the top ballots because he wouldn’t let him slow the process down.
Samuel Harris stated, “Good GOP challengers were targeted by Democrats and followed around by two or more.”
He stated that members of the electrical workers union stood shoulder to shoulder with Democrat challengers to block views of GOP challengers.
“I was verbally assaulted with racial slurs at table ICC 10 and 48,” Harris stated.
Brett Kinney stated that he issued 40 to 50 challenges and supervisors placed them in an envelope labeled “invalid ballots.”
He stated that a worker reached into the envelope and processed the ballots with valid ballots.
Jean Leonard stated that many stacks of ballots appeared in pristine condition as though they hadn’t gone through the US Postal Service.
She stated that she saw stacks of ballots without postal markings in bundles with rubber bands around them.
Nora Storm stated that she asked to look at postmarks and was told she could not.
“I inquired about large trays of folded ballots and I was told by the poll workers that they were empty ballots to be used for redoing bad ballots,” Storm stated.
Brian Pannebecker stated that he asked about verifying illegible signatures and a worker said, “That was done yesterday.”
He stated that it took 10 minutes to enter a single challenge and he believed they handled it that way to dissuade Republicans from entering challenges and to keep them away from tables.
Scott Brigmon stated that an envelope on a table containing absentee ballots had been mailed to Mount Clemens, Michigan.
Laura Roush stated that she overheard one worker tell another that they had 35,000 more ballots coming, and they high fived each other.
Richard Atkins stated that a computer went down but all five workers continued opening ballots and processing them.
Ruth Langer stated that she observed military ballots that were opened prior to arriving at the counting table.
Karyn Chopjian stated, “Blank ballots were tucked underneath things, shuffled into boxes labeled ‘problem ballots’ and not tracked.”
She stated that she was told to go back to the suburbs.
Pauline Montie stated that workers kept moving a monitor further from a table and she told a supervisor she couldn’t see.
She stated that the supervisor said, “Too bad.”
Kristy Klamer stated that a lawyer, two team leaders, and three others came as a group to intimidate her after she challenged a ballot.
She stated that the lawyer told her she couldn’t keep challenging ballots and she might get escorted out.
“I had two big guys come stand close to me and say, ‘I think we’re going to stand right here,’” Klamer stated.
Qian Schmidt stated that he is of Chinese descent and an individual asked, “What gives you the right to be here since you are not American?”
Anne Vanker stated, “I was shouted at several times by unidentified people for unknown transgressions. The overall feeling in the room was one of intentional and organized intimidation and bullying by people who bore no credentials but wore green dots.”
Glen Sitek stated that a worker shoved him away from a table and shoved him again after he told police he wanted to file a charge.
Braden Gaicobazzi stated that a supervisor’s supervisor told him he’d kick his ass or kick him out.
Amanda Posch stated that chanting erupted outside and a worker said in her direction, “I hope the police come and shoot them like you do to us.”
Linda Cavaliere stated, “I can honestly say that there was nothing right about what was going on there.”
Campaign counsel Hearne also filed affidavits of Whitney Meyers and John Palmer, who covered the Department of Elections on Grand Avenue.
Meyers stated that workers with Detroit Elections aprons collected ballots from cars and handed T-shirts and food into cars.
She stated that an individual placed ballots in a drop box after 8 p.m., before workers locked the box.
She stated that a worker accepted a ballot from a woman on the street after 8 p.m., and placed it with other ballots.
“I confronted him about this, but he did not remove the ballot,” Meyers stated.
Palmer stated, “People would just drive up, drop off what was assumed to be a ballot, and drive off.”
He stated that he watched ten or more vehicles in the loading dock area with plates from other states including Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, and Virginia.
District Judge Janet Neff of Grand Rapids will preside.
Trump’s campaign separately pursues a suit for an audit in Wayne County court.