Pontiac Times

In the midst of a contentious 2020 presidential election, there has been much speculation about the vote-counting process and some reported irregularities, according to GOP-appointed poll challengers.

One such example and testimonial comes from Anne Vanker, a citizen of Grosse Pointe, Michigan. Vanker was assigned to be a watcher for the vote-counting process by the GOP in Detroit. She arrived at the counting facility at 9:30 a.m. the day after the election, but she was met almost immediately with hostility, according to her account in Bridge Michigan.

Vanker states that she was repeatedly denied access to parts of the process. She claims the problem started right away: "I first took a position behind a counting table and attempted to stand and observe poll workers at a counting table. However, I was immediately reproached and told repeatedly that I could not stand behind the poll workers," Vanker wrote in Bridge Michigan. 

When turned away from directly watching the poll workers count, she settled for watching a TV monitor. However, this only created more problems and questions, for Vanker could not correctly identify the destination of several ballots that were categorized as "problem ballots." 

Vanker wrote, "The view on the monitor displayed an electronic review of each ballot, essentially matching each ballot to a registered voter. If there wasn’t an electronic match, the poll worker would look at a supplemental list to find the name of the voter on the ballot. If the name on the ballot was not found on the supplemental list, the worker would place the ballot in a box labelled 'Problem Ballots' and periodically another worker would transfer these ballots to a table on a raised platform in the middle of the room."

Throughout the day, Vanker continued to observe problem ballots and was repeatedly denied the answers to questions about their destination and what would happen with them. Vanker was allowed to copy down ballot numbers that she could then submit later for a challenge but was not given additional information beyond that. In addition, Vanker said that no additional counting watchers were allowed into the room, despite there being 100 vote-counting tables in the facility. Detroit Police enforced this rule. 

The coming weeks may be full of lawsuits and court cases, as the nation waits to see if President Donald Trump will concede or continue to challenge the election results in Michigan and other states.