November 5, 2024
In the early hours following Election Day, Project Veritas footage allegedly captured boxes of ballots arriving at Detroit’s Bureau of Elections, drawing scrutiny and raising questions about the integrity of the ballot-counting process. The deliveries reportedly occurred around 11 PM and featured vehicles with California license plates, an unusual detail that has fueled widespread speculation online. Project Veritas shared the footage on social media, writing, “EYES ON DETROIT: It’s 11pm. Why are boxes of ballots still arriving at Detroit’s Bureau of Elections via cars with California plates? We’re here. We’re watching.”
The incident has intensified public attention on the Detroit elections, already a focal point due to Michigan’s history of close and contentious races. In 2020, ballot counting at Detroit’s TCF Center (now the Huntington Place Convention Center) raised eyebrows when Detroit election officials covered windows to prevent poll observers from watching the process, and some GOP observers alleged they were treated with hostility by poll workers.
Concerns Over Ballot Integrity
The 2024 election has been similarly close, with early data showing former President Donald Trump holding a slight lead over Vice President Kamala Harris in Georgia, capturing 51.6% of the vote to Harris’s 46.7%. Although this data is from Georgia, a swing state, the implications have national significance as close races unfold in battleground states like Michigan, where each vote counts.
The recent footage from Project Veritas has invoked memories of the 2020 ballot controversy in Detroit, when affidavits from election observers claimed they witnessed questionable practices. Shane Trejo, an election observer in 2020, claimed he saw ballot deliveries around 3:30 AM—hours after the 8 PM deadline—bringing thousands of ballots that allegedly gave then-candidate Joe Biden a significant lead. “There were thousands of ballots in each box,” Trejo said at the time. “There were at least 50 boxes that I saw unloaded.”
Former Michigan State Senator Pat Colbeck, also present at the TCF Center in 2020, echoed Trejo’s concerns. Colbeck noted a lack of bipartisan oversight during ballot transfers and questioned whether the chain of custody for the ballots had been maintained. He stated, “There was no indication that there was a Republican and a Democrat (present) during transfer… We have no way of verifying any of that information.”
Election Transparency and Public Trust
Detroit election officials, however, have consistently maintained that the 2020 ballot counting was conducted according to legal protocols. Detroit Clerk Janice Winfrey and other city officials have said that all ballots were counted in compliance with state laws and that the delays were due to high turnout and COVID-19 precautions.
Since 2020, concerns about election integrity have only intensified, with more Americans expressing skepticism about the transparency of the ballot-counting process. For their part, Project Veritas has called on election officials in Detroit to address the questions raised by their footage.
The Michigan Secretary of State’s office has not yet commented on the recent video from Project Veritas, but officials previously stated that all processes are designed to ensure fair, accurate, and secure elections.
Fact-Checking and Public Response
Following past controversies, fact-checking organizations like Politifact examined claims about ballot handling in Michigan, concluding that late-night deliveries of ballots did occur but dismissing claims of fraud. However, critics argue that such explanations move the goalposts, as the core concerns about transparency and chain-of-custody remain unresolved.
As Detroit once again finds itself at the center of an election integrity debate, many voters are left wondering: will transparency issues like these sway the outcome of close races in key states?
For more on this developing story, read Project Veritas’s initial report and Politifact’s analysis.
Sources: Project Veritas, Politifact, statements from Shane Trejo and Pat Colbeck, Michigan Secretary of State’s Office
