[direwolf]

Oh fer f*** sakes.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/22/polit...ion/index.html

A key Republican on the Michigan canvassing board is expected to vote against certifying the state's election results on Monday, a potential boon for the Trump campaign's conspiracy theory-fueled effort to delay the finalization of results.

According to Michigan GOP Rep. Paul Mitchell, who said he spoke days ago with Norman Shinkle, one of the two GOP members on the board, Shinkle indicated last week he would vote against certifying the election results until an investigation is completed so as to push a delay even though there is no evidence of fraud or malfeasance that would necessitate such a move.

Depending on how Aaron Van Langevelde, the other GOP member of the board, casts his vote, Mitchell told CNN either members of the Trump team end up delaying the certification of the election results or they have something that they can point to as evidence of unfairness, even if it isn't. Van Langevelde's family told CNN he would have no comment on his expected vote.

"It's a win-win" for the Trump team, Mitchell said, since it will either be able to delay the inevitable President-elect Joe Biden transition process or have more ammo to falsely claim Trump won the election.

Michigan House Speaker Lee Chatfield, a Republican, said Sunday if both GOP members of the board force a 2-2 tie it could cause the process to be chaotic with the issue possibly tied up in court. He added there is a potential down the road for the state of Michigan to face a constitutional crisis.

"If there were to be a 2-2 split on the State Board of Canvassers, it would then go to the Michigan Supreme Court to determine what their response would be, what their order would be," Chatfield said on Fox News.

"If they didn't have an order that it be certified, well now we have a constitutional crisis in the state of Michigan. It's never occurred before," Chatfield said.

If the board were to vote against certifying the results, the case would go to the state court of appeals, and then the state Supreme Court, which would be expected to demand the board certify the results -- as is written in state law. The governor, Democrat Gretchen Whitmer, could also replace any of the board members.

Although Chatfield reiterated that the role of the Board of State Canvassers is to "certify the election for whoever won the popular vote," he did acknowledge in the interview what could happen if the process went awry.

If the certification cannot be handled in the courts, Chatfield said it would then go to the state Legislature, where Republican members could try and appoint electors to vote for Trump instead of appointing those honoring the popular vote.

"It's a place I really don't want to be in," he said.

Michigan GOP Rep. Fred Upton broke with the majority of congressional Republicans to say "it's over" during a Sunday interview with CNN's Dana Bash.

On "Inside Politics," he said that there was no evidence of fraud, the margin is "not razor thin" and the state certification process should move forward to "let the voters, not the politicians, speak."