State board certifies Joe Biden's win in Michigan

Michigan election officials have certified Democrat Joe Biden's 154,000-vote victory in the state, another setback for President Donald Trump in his futile effort to undermine the results of the Nov. 3 election through baseless legal challenges and unsupported claims of fraud.

The Board of State Canvassers, which has two Republicans and two Democrats, confirmed the results Monday on a 3-0 vote with one abstention.

Allies of Trump and losing GOP Senate candidate John James had urged the panel to delay voting for two weeks to audit votes in heavily Democratic Wayne County, home to Detroit.

"Michigan is among a number of key battleground states that voted for Joe Biden and they're in the process of certifying the election," said Associated Press writer David Eggert, who covers Michigan politics from Lansing. "Georgia last week certified the results, and that was a much closer race than in Michigan.

"Pennsylvania counties are in the process right now of certifying their results, and it'll go up to their secretary of state soon. So, the window is closing for President Trump and kind of his attempts to delay or call into question the results," Eggert said Monday.

Under Michigan law, Biden claims all 16 electoral votes. Biden won by 2.8 percentage points — a larger margin than in other states where Trump is contesting the results like Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

Some Trump allies had expressed hope that state lawmakers could intervene in selecting Republican electors in states that do not certify. That longshot bid is no longer possible in Michigan.

(Image Credit: AP)