Recount decision looms as board rejects ballots found in Hamtramck's clerk's office
After Wayne County election officials dealt a blow to his mayoral campaign, Hamtramck City Council member Muhith Mahmood is hoping that absentee ballots with missing or mismatched signatures can be remedied and still propel him to victory.
In a 2-2 vote along party lines, Wayne County elections officials deadlocked Friday on whether to count 37 absentee ballots found two days after the Nov. 4 election in the clerk's office, effectively rejecting ballots that could change the outcome of a tight mayoral race in Hamtramck.
The Wayne County Board of Canvassers' decision means that, for now, Adam Alharbi's razor-thin 11-vote victory will stand. The Yemeni-American engineer has battled Mahmood, a Bangladeshi, to lead the multi-ethnic enclave of Detroit, which has been beset by allegations and investigations of election crimes.
Mahmood's attorney Mark Brewer noted that there are still 120 ballots that had to be cured due to missing or mismatched signatures that have not been counted, which could still tilt the final count in Mahmood's favor.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/wayne-county/2025/11/14/board-wont-accept-ballots-found-in-hamtramcks-clerks-office-after-election/87276005007/