HAMTRAMCK, Mich. – A ballot from Hamtramck’s November 2025 General Election has been discovered inside the City Clerk’s Office, adding a new wrinkle to an already contentious post-election saga.
“I can confirm that a ballot from the Nov. 4, 2025 General Election was discovered in the City Clerk’s Office,” said Hamtramck City Clerk Sami Elhady. “The ballot has been secured, and the matter has been referred to the appropriate election authorities.”
“During a review of records from the prior election, an additional ballot was identified, and it’s being handled with due care and diligence,” said City Attorney Odey Meroueh. “Because there’s a related matter still pending, the count itself goes to the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, which is where it belongs. My job is to make sure Hamtramck has a process residents can trust moving forward, and that’s what we’re focused on.”
Local 4 has reached out to the Wayne County Director of Elections but has not yet received a response.
Background: A disputed election still being sorted out
The discovery comes amid an unresolved dispute over 37 uncounted absentee ballots from the November 2025 Hamtramck mayoral race.
The ballots were discovered in the City Clerk’s Office the following day.
Candidate Adam Alharbi defeated City Councilmember Muhith Mahmood by a narrow margin.
The Wayne County Board of Canvassers deadlocked 2–2 on whether to count the votes, resulting in their initial exclusion.
Mahmood then initiated legal action. In December 2025, a lower circuit court ruled the board’s decision to exclude the ballots.
Alharbi was sworn in as mayor on Jan. 1, 2026.
But the legal battle didn’t end there. In March 2026, the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed the lower court’s ruling in a 2–1 decision. The appellate judges wrote that errors made by election officials should not disenfranchise eligible voters, and ordered the 37 ballots to undergo standard challenged-voter procedures and be reviewed.
City Clerk Rana Faraj was placed on administrative leave and eventually dismissed. Faraj has since filed a lawsuit against the city.