‘Did that happen? No.’ -- Detroit election official addresses fraud allegations

‘Dead people don’t do much,’ election advisor says, ‘and they don’t vote.’

DETROIT – There have been many unproven claims made about the 2020 U.S. General Election.

As the results of the election continue to be disputed, election experts are pushing back and trying to reassure voters their votes were counted correctly.

Detroit Election advisor Chris Thomas is an expert in Michigan’s elections. The former state elections director has worked for leaders of both parties for 40 years to make sure elections run smoothly. In 2020, he was an advisor for Detroit’s election and since Election Day, he’s been spending his time debunking claims of fraud.

“‘There was evidence of fraud because of pre-dated ballots,’ Did that happen? No. Double-counted ballots? Only if you believe that the system is totally unbalanced by huge portions,” Thomas said. “What about the idea that that the poll books are so off balance that the votes shouldn’t count? That is beyond belief. Dead people voting in Michigan? Dead people don’t do much and they don’t vote. Software changing votes against the president? Absurd.”

Related: The must-read deep dive into Michigan’s 2020 election, erroneous voter fraud claims

Thomas said claims of fraud are only that -- claims made by challengers at the polls called to show up in force by those looking to stop the count.

“Those people rolled in there with a view that there was something untoward something wrong and they were aggressive and rude and uneducated about what they were looking at,” Thomas said. “And that probably did elicit some reaction from the workers to be treated in that fashion.”

As fights to undo the results played out, Thomas said he wants to make something clear after witnesses in Lansing with Rudy Giuliani called Detroit poll workers lazy and dumb Wednesday -- racist dog-whistles about a majority Black city.

“I found the workers in Detroit to be good people are hard workers, intelligent folk,” Thomas said. “Anything to the contrary is really a slur that should not be publicly stated.”

Related: Trump’s legal team cried vote fraud, but courts found none

Thomas said Michigan’s election went remarkably well, especially with a surge of absentee votes and COVID restrictions.

“600,000 more Michigan citizens got a ballot in their hand and cast,” Thomas said. “That’s a marvelous thing.”

He said the 2020 General Election votes are safe and the election is over.

Evidence? Hearsay? Voter fraud claims in affidavits, explained

While no hard evidence has been discovered to support widespread voter fraud claims in the 2020 election, plenty of people have signed their name to sworn testimony.

Since the November election was called for Joe Biden, President Trump and his legal team have been filing countless lawsuits alleging wild scenarios of voter fraud and corruption -- basically using sworn affidavits as their main source of evidence. Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani has targeted Detroit in recent weeks, despite there being no evidence of fraud in the city.

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About the Authors:

Dane is a producer and media enthusiast. He previously worked freelance video production and writing jobs in Michigan, Georgia and Massachusetts. Dane graduated from the Specs Howard School of Media Arts.