DETROIT – The Michigan Court of Appeals says the state of Michigan has completed reviewing the Detroit primary ballots in question and is now allowed to certify the election results.
The Michigan Attorney General, working on behalf of the State Board of Canvassers, filed an appeal Friday to overturn an Ingham County judge's stay on the state's review and certification of the Detroit primary election.
View: Schuette's appeal
View: Court of Appeals ruling
In response to a lawsuit, Circuit Court Judge Joyce Draganchuk filed a temporary restraining order Thursday restricting the State Board of Canvassers from counting and recounting the ballots. Her order also restrained the state from certifying the primary election.
Etta Wilcoxon, a candidate for Detroit city clerk, filed the lawsuit which claims the board violated the state constitution when they began their process of reviewing the write-in votes.
However, the appeals court says the lawsuit is a moot point because the state already reviewed the votes in question. The State Board of Canvassers can now move forward and certify the election results before a 10-day deadline expires. They will do that on Tuesday.
View: Judge's order
Read more: State election officials wrap up review of Detroit ballots
State's preliminary numbers show Duggan won primary with nearly 50,000 write-in votes
Wayne County canvassers referred the ballots to the state because they were tallied numerically by the city instead of with hash marks.
County canvassers said they counted 23,970 valid write-in votes for former medical center chief Mike Duggan and about 28,300 for Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon.
However, according to the AG's Friday filing, the State Board of Canvassers' preliminary figures show Duggan received 48,716 write-in votes which is an additional 24,746 valid votes.
The Detroit city clerk had reported on election night that Duggan received more than 44,000 write-in votes.
Napoleon and Duggan finished ahead of the other candidates and will face off in the November general election.
However, the Aug. 6 election has yet to be certified because of the tallying issue.