37 disputed absentee ballots to be counted in controversial Hamtramck mayoral race

Nearly a year after voters cast their ballots in Hamtramck's mayoral election, the outcome remains uncertain as election officials prepare to count 37 disputed absentee ballots that could change who leads the city.

The Wayne County Election Commission is scheduled to meet at noon on Oct. 16 to count the ballots following a court order.

The votes could overturn an election decided by just 11 votes in November 2025.

Michael Brady, an election expert, says the circumstances surrounding the race are highly unusual.

"I haven't seen anything like this quite in this way," Brady said. "There certainly have been other races around the country. It's fairly rare, but you know, the contested elections that are not perhaps not fully resolved, or with all questions settled until sometime after the election. Though this is definitely, I would say, still an outlier in that regard."

Current Mayor Adam Alharbi defeated former Hamtramck City Council Member Muhith Mahmood by 11 votes in the November election and took office in January.

However, 37 absentee ballots discovered in the city clerk's office after Election Day were never included in the final tally.

The ballots were initially excluded after then-City Clerk Rana Faraj raised concerns about a break in their chain of custody.

Faraj testified that unauthorized individuals had entered her office while the ballots were stored there, raising questions about their security.

The Wayne County Board of Canvassers deadlocked 2-2 over whether the ballots should be counted, leaving them out of the certified election results.

Mahmood challenged that decision in court, arguing that voters should not lose their right to have their ballots counted because of mistakes made by election officials.

In March, the Michigan Court of Appeals ruled that the ballots should be counted, reversing an earlier lower court decision.

Wayne County Circuit Judge Kathleen McCarthy subsequently ordered the ballots to be tabulated no later than Oct. 16.

With just 11 votes separating the candidates, the additional ballots could change the outcome.

Assuming all 37 contain valid votes for one of the two candidates, Mahmood would need at least 25 of them to overcome Alharbi's lead.

Brady said there are several possible outcomes.

"There's a world in which they're counted, and they don't affect the overall result in terms of who the winner of the race is," Brady said. "There's another scenario where the 37 ballots are counted, and it does change, you know, who the winner of the race is."

A second legal battle could complicate the outcome

Even if the additional ballots put Mahmood ahead, that does not necessarily mean he will become mayor.

Alharbi is pursuing a separate legal challenge questioning whether Mahmood meets Hamtramck's residency requirements to hold public office.

Alharbi's attorney, Nabih Ayad, has argued that Mahmood lives in Troy with his family rather than in Hamtramck. Mahmood has denied those allegations and maintains that he resides in Hamtramck.

Brady said the residency dispute introduces another legal question: whether the challenge was filed too late.

The allegations about Mahmood's residency surfaced months before the November 2025 election, but the legal challenge was not filed until after voters went to the polls.

Brady pointed to a legal doctrine known as laches, which can prevent a party from pursuing a claim after an unreasonable delay that prejudices another party.

"There's a defense called laches, an equitable remedy in the law, that says you know, if you've got information, you can't wait forever on it," Brady said.

Whether that argument applies will be among the questions for the court to consider.

Could Hamtramck end up without a mayor?

Brady said one of the more complicated possibilities involves Mahmood receiving enough votes to win the election but subsequently being ruled ineligible to hold office because of residency requirements.

In that scenario, Brady said, the mayor's office could potentially become vacant rather than automatically reverting to Alharbi.

"There's a very real possibility that the end result would be a vacant seat in the mayorship that would then could require a runoff," Brady said.

Brady emphasized that any such outcome would depend on how the court resolves the legal questions.

"The fact is, there was an election, and the way that Hamtramck has it set up is that there's an election, and the winner of the election becomes mayor, and if that person is found to be not eligible because they're not a resident, it doesn't automatically default to second place. It's just a vacancy," Brady said.

However, a vacancy or another election is not guaranteed. The court would have to determine the appropriate legal remedy.

There is also the possibility that Alharbi retains his lead after the additional ballots are counted, leaving the current election outcome unchanged.

Why the case matters beyond Hamtramck

Beyond the political uncertainty, Brady said the case raises a fundamental question about protecting voting rights.

He pointed to what the Michigan Court of Appeals described as the state's long-standing democracy principle, which generally protects eligible voters from losing their votes because of errors made by election officials.

Brady said voters who properly cast their ballots should not be disenfranchised because of mistakes outside their control.

"Your vote does count, and one way or the other, I think there's a really important principle that's in play in this lawsuit, and one that has a long history here in the state of Michigan," Brady said.

The issue has placed two competing concerns at the center of the election dispute: protecting the integrity and security of ballots while ensuring eligible voters have their votes counted.

Alharbi has raised concerns about the security of the disputed ballots and whether their chain of custody can be trusted. Mahmood and his attorney, Mark Brewer, have argued that excluding the ballots unfairly denies voters their right to participate in the election.

What happens next in Hamtramck?

Although the 37 ballots are scheduled to be counted on Friday, the legal battle may continue well beyond that date.

Judge McCarthy has ordered that if the new tally puts Mahmood ahead, the Wayne County Board of Canvassers cannot certify him as the winner without further court approval.

According to Brady, another court hearing is scheduled for Thursday, Oct. 22, when the judge is expected to consider developments in the ballot-counting dispute and the separate residency challenge.

For now, Alharbi remains Hamtramck's mayor.

Brady said the case could ultimately move in several directions, depending on the ballot count and subsequent court rulings.

"This could go in a lot of different directions, including, of course, maintaining status quo," Brady said. "And it is entirely possible that the current mayor is found to have won the race after these ballots are counted."

Friday's count could answer who received the most votes in Hamtramck's 2025 mayoral election. But it may not settle who ultimately gets to serve as mayor.