Election results could be delayed in the city of Warren. County clerk explains why.
WARREN, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) — There is a growing concern that the counting of ballots could be delayed in the city of Warren on election day.
"After the 2020 election, people thought something was wrong because of how long it took to count votes," said Macomb County Clerk Anthony G. Forlini.
Forlini said Michigan now allows local governments to opt-in to be able to count absentee votes eight days early. All city clerks in in larger municipalities in Macomb County took advantage of the law, except for the Warren city clerk.
Forlini said he doesn't understand the decision to wait until election night to count absentee votes because it could potentially delay the results.
"So this here is a method for clerks to tabulate the votes early, and hopefully, because of that, they'll come in sooner," he said.
CBS Detroit reached out to Warren City Clerk Sonja Buffa, who released the following statement:
"I have been administering elections for 24 years and my staff has always demonstrated accuracy and precision with elections. Accuracy is the number one priority for me, and then speed is second. It is for these reasons that I have chosen not to preprocess.
"First, it actually would take more time to pre-process absentee votes for eight days given the extra people needed, the time it takes, the storage necessitated, and the compiling afterwards, than one full day of counting.
"Next, pre- processing is not mandated for clerks. The legislature could have easily mandated pre-processing, but they chose to make it optional. And finally, up to eight days of pre-processing opens the door for results to get leaked or compromised. I will not risk compromising the integrity of the election.
"I also want the results quickly and we are committed to accomplishing that task in addition to keeping the election accurate, safe and secure. WE CAN DO THIS!
"I hope that the scrutiny this office is getting will not discourage the general public from voting. As always, thank you for voting."
Meanwhile, Forlini said that while he does not agree with the decision not to count early absentee votes for the larger municipalities, he is committed to aiding the city of Warren with counting ballots on election night.
"I would encourage Warren to get bring them in, don't sit on them in the city offices, bring it in so we can get it tabulated so we can get the results out to the people that want to know," he said.
