Michigan GOP officials are seeking to remove one of their own after he voted to certify the 2020 presidential election results in favor of President-elect Joe Biden.
Aaron Van Langevelde, a state House Republican policy adviser and deputy legal counsel, voted alongside two Democratic members to validate Biden’s victory in late November, according to the Detroit News. Van Langevelde, a member of the Board of State Canvassers, which certifies election results, was the pivotal vote on the matter that was decided by the four-person board.
Van Langevelde’s term ends on Jan. 31. However, some of his GOP colleagues proposed three people as replacements instead of renominating him. One of the potential picks, Linda Lee Tarver, played a role in court proceedings to intervene in validating the election results.
“My conscience is clear, and I am confident that my decision is on the right side of the law and history,” Van Langevelde said on Monday. “Time will tell that those who spread misinformation and tried to overturn the election were wrong, and they should be held responsible for the chaos and confusion they have caused.”
By law, Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer must choose one of three GOP nominees by Wednesday.
“I would not certify what I could not verify,” Tarver said about confirming the state’s election results.
Michigan Freedom Fund director Tony Daunt, who was also selected as a replacement, backed Van Langevelde’s late November decision.
“What we lacked over those two months was leadership that was willing to stand up and tell people the truth about the results of the election,” he told the Detroit News in an interview.
Biden won Michigan, which carries 16 electoral votes, by approximately 150,000 ballots, according to the New York Times election map. The former vice president went on to win the election with a total of 306 electoral votes, while President Trump secured 232.
