The Michigan Board of State Canvassers certified the state’s election results on Monday, handing former Vice President Joe Biden another 16 electoral votes.
The bipartisan four-member panel approved the certification 3-0, with one Republican member abstaining. The other Republican on the board, chairman Aaron Van Langevelde, sided with the two Democrats on the panel.
“We have a clear legal duty to certify the results of the election as shown by the returns that were given to us. We cannot and should not go beyond that,” Van Langevelde said in his closing remarks before the vote. “John Adams once said, ‘We are a government of laws, not men,’ and this board must adhere to that principle today.”
The state may still undergo an audit, however, under Michigan law audits are conducted after certification.
Trump campaign legal adviser Jenna Ellis, who has fought alongside the campaign to dispute the election results and delay certification, said Michigan’s certification was “simply a procedural step” and that they would “continue combatting election fraud around the country,” without citing any evidence of widespread fraud.
The state’s certification will be followed by the selection of electors, who will convene with the rest of the Electoral College on Dec. 14.
