Michigan ballot scandal: Councilman filmed in drop-box stuffing row; police confirm authenticity of footage

Surveillance video seems to indicate Councilman Abu Musa in the passenger seat of a car as one other man deposits three stacks of ballots at a metropolis drop field simply days earlier than the first election.

A Michigan metropolis councillor is dealing with scrutiny after a video appeared to indicate him concerned in a ballot-stuffing incident simply days earlier than he secured re-election.The footage, confirmed by Michigan State Police, exhibits Hamtramck council member Abu Musa seated in a automobile on 1 August. In the clip, Musa might be seen passing a number of bundles of papers, believed to be absentee ballots, to the driving force. The driver is then seen putting three stacks right into a drop field. As reported by the Daily Mail, the timing was vital because it occurred solely 4 days earlier than Hamtramck’s major elections on 5 August, in which Musa got here first with 1,129 votes.According to the New York Post, election information reveal that 843 of Musa’s votes have been solid by absentee ballot, whereas solely 286 got here on election day itself. Without the absentee votes, Musa would have ranked simply fifth in the 12-person contest.The allegations surfaced towards the backdrop of ongoing election controversies in Hamtramck. Earlier this month, two different council members, Muhtasin Sadman and Mohammed Hassan, have been charged with forging ballots in the 2023 native election. In that case, legal professional normal Dana Nessel alleged the councillors had conspired to gather unvoted absentee ballots from just lately naturalised residents after which stuffed them in with their most well-liked candidates. Musa had been named in the identical probe however was not charged.The metropolis clerk initially raised considerations when “identical handwriting” appeared on a number of absentee ballot envelopes and “large bundles of ballots” have been submitted without delay, Detroit’s Local 4 News reported. Hamtramck City clerk Rana Faraj burdened, “State laws are clear that your ballot should only be handled by you or a family member.”Musa can also be below a separate investigation into whether or not he really resides inside Hamtramck, a requirement to serve on the council. He has denied any wrongdoing, the New York Post reported.Michigan legislation permits people to ship absentee ballots on behalf of others, however provided that they’re shut kin or reside in the identical family. Oakland County Clerk Lisa Brown defined to WXWZ, saying, “If it’s an immediate family member or you co-inhabit with somebody, you can return their absentee ballots.”The controversy has additional unsettled Hamtramck, a metropolis of simply over 28,000 folks, greater than 70 per cent of whom are Muslim. In 2022, it grew to become the primary US metropolis with an all-Muslim council. Its political profile grew final 12 months when Mayor Amer Ghalib publicly endorsed Donald Trump, later nominated by the US President as Ambassador to Kuwait.Trump narrowly carried Michigan in the 2024 election, profitable 49.7 per cent of the vote in comparison with Kamala Harris’ 48.3 per cent.