WARREN, Mich. (WXYZ) — A 2022 state law allows clerks of cities or townships with populations over 5,000 people to count absentee ballots eight days before Election Day. Every large city in Macomb County has taken up the offer, except the largest city in the county, Warren.
Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini fears this will slow down election results in the county and state.
The state law requires that city and township clerks notify the state that they plan on counting absentee ballots early 28 days before Election Day. Forlini says Warren City Clerk Sonja Buffa did not do that and the window of opportunity has passed.
At a city council meeting Tuesday, council members discussed the decision made by the city clerk.
"I want to make it clear that city council had nothing to do with that decision and during the budget process, we were not asked to appropriate any additional funds to aid in activity of counting early," Councilwoman Mindy Moore said. “We certainly don’t want our vote to be the last one to come in. Warren has been very slow with election results."
Forlini has held his position as Macomb County clerk for four years, and he’s been looking forward to this upcoming election for just as long. He knows all eyes are on Macomb County and the swing state of Michigan.
“Macomb is the epicenter of elections this upcoming November," he said.
Forlini says when he learned that Buffa wouldn't be taking advantage of counting absentee ballots early, he realized it could slow down the process in the entire county. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump know they need to win battleground Michigan to have a chance at taking the White House.
“It’s going to be razor thin, razor thin. We don’t need to be the last one reporting," Forlini said. “Things happen — tabulators break, things get jammed, you don’t want that on Election Day. You want to take care of those problems before.”
Forlini says he and the Secretary of State's Office have tried to set up meetings with Buffa, but they never panned out.
On Wednesday afternoon, Buffa emailed me a statement. It reads:
"I have been administering elections for 24 years and my staff has always demonstrated accuracy and precision with elections. Accuracy is the number one priority for me, and then speed is second. It is for these reasons that I have chosen not to preprocess.
First, it actually would take more time to pre-process absentee votes for eight days given the extra people needed, the time it takes, the storage necessitated, and the compiling afterwards, than one full day of counting.
Next, pre- processing is not mandated for clerks. The legislature could have easily mandated pre-processing, but they chose to make it optional.
And finally, up to eight days of pre-processing opens the door for results to get leaked or compromised. I will not risk compromising the integrity of the election.
I also want the results quickly and we are committed to accomplishing that task in addition to keeping the election accurate, safe and secure. WE CAN DO THIS!
I hope that the scrutiny this office is getting will not discourage the general public from voting. As always, thank you for voting."
