Warren city and Macomb County clerks feud over absentee ballot processing

WARREN, Mich. (FOX 2) - A feud is brewing between the county clerk of Macomb and the city clerk of Warren over a decision to wait on readying absentee ballots to be counted until election day, despite a new state law allowing eight days of pre-processing the votes that are mailed in.

Warren City Clerk Sonja Buffa has served in the position overseeing elections in Michigan's third-largest city for years. 

She was around when the state expanded absentee ballot eligibility, so any resident could take advantage of the process in 2018, as well as when the state expanded voting again to include early voting in 2022.

She was also around in 2020 when a massive number of absentee ballots submitted due to the pandemic prompted delays in counting those votes as well as projecting a winner of Michigan.

The state has also made it easier for clerks and its workers to keep up with mail-in ballots by allowing them to prepare them for tabulation before election day. But Buffa has decided against taking advantage of the extra time.

"I’d rather be accurate over speed. I think that’s the most important thing. I don’t want to hurry up and do anything - I want it to be done right," said Buffa.

But the Macomb County Clerk is wary of what that portends for Nov. 5 when huge turnout and a tight political race could levy stress upon the election system.

"I hope it’s done within a day and I hope we get the results in early," said Tony Forlini. 

Buffa pushed back on Forlini's urging to start sooner, adding "I don't think he understands the process."

The quarrel is taking place in one of Michigan's most important counties, electoral-wise. Not just for the state, but for the country due to both Macomb County's size and its bellwether status as one of Michigan's more swingier districts.

What once was a hotbed for working class Democrats has grown more conservative in recent years. That includes supporting Donald Trump over the past two presidential elections.

In the immediate aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, after all the votes had been cast but not counted, the U.S. found itself in limbo as it awaited states like Michigan and Pennsylvania to project a winner. 

Amid that uncertainty, misinformation about election fraud spread online while Trump claimed without proof that he had won. 

Years later, Michigan passed several new laws aimed at reducing the burden on election workers while making it more convenient to vote without sacrificing integrity in the process.