Free Republic

An attorney urged a judge Wednesday to allow Detroit-area election officials to certify the Nov. 3 results, saying any halt would empower the "right-wing fire” trying to cast doubt on the outcome. A lawsuit claims Republican challengers were removed from the TCF Center in Detroit while absentee ballots were being processed. The court filing also alleges that ballots were backdated, signatures on ballot envelopes weren't verified and other irregularities. Attorney David Kallman wants a judge to order an audit of Detroit's vote and suspend any certification of election results by Wayne County until the work is done. "There's plenty of...

<p>In their zeal to slice and dice Oakland County's volatile electorate to maximal advantage, Republican state legislators may have landed one of their party's congressional stalwarts in the fight of his political life.</p> <p>U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg of Bloomfield Township, who formally launched his campaign for a sixth term Friday night at a GOP pep rally in Troy, was first elected to Congress in 1992. In the decade since, his district has drifted slightly to the left -- Bill Clinton carried it in 1996, and Al Gore fought George Bush to a draw there in 2000 -- but Knollenberg himself has scarcely broken a sweat in four reelection campaigns.</p>