DETROIT – Although the hand recount in the Hamtramck mayoral race did not deliver the result hoped for by Bangladeshi American candidate Muhith Mahmood, the City Council member remains determined to continue his effort to overturn the outcome. Mahmood is urging the courts to count 37 absentee ballots that Wayne County election officials rejected after they appeared unexpectedly in the city clerk’s office two days after polls closed in the November 4 election.

With both Mahmood and his Yemeni American opponent, Adam Alharbi, present, the hand recount conducted on Tuesday widened Alharbi’s margin of victory from six votes to 11.

The certified results issued by the Wayne County Election Commission originally showed Alharbi leading by six votes, with a total of 2,066 votes.

But the recount — requested and funded by Mahmood — increased Alharbi’s tally to 2,071, while Mahmood’s total remained at 2,060.

Even with the recount confirming Mahmood’s loss, the identity of Hamtramck’s next mayor remains unresolved. Mahmood has vowed to continue pursuing his lawsuit in Wayne County Circuit Court to count the 37 absentee ballots discovered after Election Day.

The Wayne County Election Commission, composed of two Republicans and two Democrats, was deadlocked on whether to count the ballots — most of which, according to The Arab American News’ sources, were cast by Bangladeshi American voters. Counting them could potentially reverse the election outcome in Mahmood’s favor.

“People have a constitutional right to vote,” Mahmood said Tuesday, noting that a hearing on the matter was scheduled for Friday, as this edition goes to press.

Mahmood’s attorney, Mark Brewer, added that if the dispute cannot be resolved, the 37 voters whose ballots were not counted should be allowed to vote again.

“This has happened in other states,” Brewer said. “It’s the only fair remedy to ensure those voters can exercise their right to vote, whatever the result.”

The court must move quickly, as the new mayor is scheduled to assume office on January 1, replacing outgoing Mayor Amer Ghalib, who was the strongest supporter of Alharbi — an engineer running for office for the first time.

Meanwhile, even if Mahmood manages to flip the result in his favor, he still faces a separate legal challenge filed by Alharbi. The lawsuit argues that Mahmood is ineligible for the position because he allegedly does not reside in Hamtramck, as required under the city charter.

A special investigator appointed by the city concluded last spring that Mahmood was actually living in Troy. Mahmood denies this, saying he resides in Hamtramck but spends significant time with his wife and daughter at another home he owns in Troy.

Although Judge Patricia Fresard of the Wayne County Circuit Court denied Alharbi’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have prevented the Wayne County Election Commission from certifying a Mahmood victory if the results changed, the Michigan State Police continue investigating the residency allegation — an issue that could remove Mahmood from the race entirely if proven.

Political dimensions

Beyond the legal battles, the ongoing contest between Alharbi and Mahmood carries significant social and political weight. Alongside the Yemeni–Bangladeshi struggle for leadership of a city of about 28,000 residents, the race reflects a fierce partisan divide between Democrats and Republicans — despite the fact that the mayor’s office is officially nonpartisan.

Alharbi represents a continuation of the political shift launched last year by Mayor Ghalib, who endorsed President Trump and the Republican Party — a dramatic departure in a city that historically leaned Democratic, the party with which Mahmood is aligned.

Ghalib and three Hamtramck Council members, Abu Musa, Khalil Rafeeq and Muhtasin Sadman, publicly endorsed Trump and the GOP in the 2024 election after a series of disputes with Democratic leaders over LGBTQ+ issues and the Gaza war.

Mahmood, by contrast, is a prominent figure within the Detroit area Bangladeshi community. He co-founded Helping Hands and previously chaired the Michigan Democratic Party’s Bangladeshi American Caucus.

Unlike Ghalib and half of the current Council, who shifted toward the Republican side, Mahmood refused to support Trump’s 2024 presidential bid, choosing instead to back Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, despite her declining support among Arab and Muslim voters due to the Israeli war on Gaza.

The partisan stalemate within the Wayne County Election Commission over the 37 absentee ballots, with the two Republican members voting to exclude them and the two Democrats voting to count them, further underscores the political tension surrounding the race.

As the legal disputes continue, Hamtramck still does not know who its next mayor will be. The city has spent the past year grappling with numerous scandals and lawsuits involving municipal officials, leaving many residents worried that growing political turmoil will hinder effective governance and further degrade public services that are already strained.