Warren officials, others hope city doesn't hold up election night results

The city of Warren could find itself in the national spotlight — in a way it might not want to be — as a kerfuffle brews over the city clerk's decision not to preprocess absentee voter ballots and concerns about how quickly election results will get to Macomb County on election night.

The situation raised more eyebrows when City Clerk Sonja Buffa late last week asked for City Council to approve $140,000 to buy a high-speed scanner and tabulator — to add to the four the city already has — to expedite counting absentee ballots. The mayor's office sent a request to approve the funds to the City Council on Friday and a special council meeting was held Monday night.

Before the meeting, City Council Secretary Mindy Moore said Buffa decided instead to rent a scanner and tabulator for $40,000. The council didn't have a request to approve the rental and, in the end, simply received and filed the initial purchase request.

But not before asking questions and expressing concerns about Buffa's flip-flop on the scanner and tabulator and, more importantly, how quickly results would be reported to the county on Election Day, especially with the city clerk's office turning in results late to the county in the August primary.


https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/macomb/2024/10/31/warren-election-night-results-delay/75943748007/