Michigan high court orders expedited Court of Appeals review in Hamtramck, Mich., mayoral case

Julia Cardi, The Detroit News on Jan 16, 2026

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HAMTRAMCK, Mich. — The Michigan Supreme Court has declined to weigh in on Hamtramck's contested mayoral race but ordered the Court of Appeals to expedite a review of whether 37 uncounted ballots should be tallied — though one justice said the case warrants an immediate review by the high court.

Now-Mayor Adam Alharbi was declared the winner of Hamtramck's Nov. 4 mayoral election by 11 votes over his opponent, former City Council member Muhith Mahmood. The gap narrowed to six votes after a Wayne County Board of Canvassers' review. But the margin grew back to 11 votes after a hand recount.

But Hamtramck's clerk discovered 37 untabulated ballots in her office the day after the election and delivered them to the Wayne County Board of Canvassers. Later in November, the board deadlocked on whether to count the ballots, which left them untallied, after Clerk Rana Faraj testified that she could not confirm for certain the ballots' integrity.

Mahmood filed a lawsuit to have them counted, and Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Patricia Fresard ruled in December that the board had properly exercised its discretion in not counting the ballots. Mahmood's attorney, Mark Brewer of Goodman Acker, sought to have an emergency appeal reviewed directly by the Supreme Court after he filed a similar appeal to the Court of Appeals before Alharbi took office on Jan. 1.

The Supreme Court on Thursday declined Brewer's request. In a brief order, the court said it was "not persuaded" it should review the appeal before the lower appellate court has the chance. But the Court of Appeals "shall expedite its consideration," said the order.

But Justice Elizabeth Welch dissented in a short opinion, writing that an immediate review is warranted to settle the winner of the mayor's office and quell any public doubt about the election's legitimacy.

"If Alharbi did not earn the most votes in the election, then the citizens of Hamtramck are hurt by the additional time the wrong person spends serving as mayor and executing his policies," Welch wrote.

"And if Alharbi did earn the most votes, then the citizens of Hamtramck are hurt by every moment of doubt surrounding the election’s legitimacy."

Alharbi couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Brewer said the Supreme Court's decision not to take it up immediately didn't surprise him, because the justices rarely grant a request to bypass the Court of Appeals, but that it was worth the try. But he added he was pleased to see Welch's dissent acknowledging the urgency of the issue.

"Justice Welch agreed with our argument that this creates enormous uncertainty in Hamtramck," Brewer said.

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