Public Media from Michigan State University

Congresswoman Calls For Investigation of Wayne County Voting Problems

Rep. Debbie Dingell (D) Michigan
Congress.gov

Congresswoman Debbie Dingell is calling for a thorough investigation into election problems in Wayne County during Tuesday's primaries. 

Throughout the evening and well into Wednesday return numbers fluctuated wildly.

Officials warned of problems with the numbers posted on the county’s elections website.

Rep. Dingell is a Democrat from Dearborn. She says these problems raise tough questions that demand answers.

“I want accountability on what happened in Wayne County. It’s unacceptable. We need to understand,” she said. ”We need to do a thorough investigation of the facts, figure out where the numbers were, what happened.”

Rep. Dingell was a guest on WDET’s Detroit Today.

“I, quite frankly, at times, don’t know who’s accountable in Wayne County," said Rep. Dingell. "I think every last one of us needs to scream and say what is wrong? What happened?”

She said these issues are especially startling at a time when there are serious questions about election meddling from Russia and other foreign entities.

Wayne County Clerk Cathy M. Garrett told the Detroit Free Press that ElectionSource, the vendor contracted by the county to host the election site received more data than anticipated causing the malfunctions.

“To our disappointment, the election server did not meet our standard of efficiency for the August Primary Election results,” said Garrett in a statement.

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Jake Neher is a reporter for the Michigan Public Radio Network. He covers the State Legislature and other political events in Lansing.