Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for Votebeat Michigan’s free newsletter here.
HAMTRAMCK — Two Hamtramck City Council members are facing felony charges that they forged signatures on absentee ballots in the city’s tight 2023 council race, according to new court filings, although it’s unclear how many ballots may have been manipulated.
The charges against Muhtasin Sadman and Mohammed Hassan, first reported by The Detroit News, highlight a stubborn flaw in Michigan election law: As long as an absentee ballot envelope is signed by the correct voter, election officials have no way of knowing whether that voter actually filled out the ballot inside — and they’re required to count it.
According to an April document that Attorney General Dana Nessel used to request a special prosecutor in the case, Sadman and Hassan, along with four others, “conspired to receive unvoted absentee ballots that had been signed by recently naturalized citizens, and to then fill in the candidates of their choosing” in the city’s 2023 election, the records say.
They allegedly paid for votes “in order to gain an advantage in local elections,” the document said, and two other council members were also being investigated. Those council members, Abu Musa and Mohammed Alsomiri, have not been charged, according to court records.
Votebeat couldn’t reach either Sadman or Hassan on Monday. Hassan told The News that the charges were “just political games.” Their attorneys were not listed in court records at the time of publication.
The April document also named two other people: Nayeem Choudhury, who also sought a council seat in 2023 and is on this year’s ballot, and Tyrone Slappey, whose connection to the others is not specified in the April document. They have not been charged, and officials have not said if any of the remaining four are still under investigation.
Hamtramck is a Wayne County city of just over 28,000 residents that is almost surrounded by Detroit.
Of the nearly 7,400 votes cast in the Hamtramck 2023 council election, Hassan got 1,618 votes, while Alsomiri got 1,309, and Sadman got 1,238. The top three vote-getters won seats on the council. The next closest candidates were Lynn Blasey, who got 1,156 votes, and Choudhury, who got 1,118. Officials have not said exactly how many ballots may have been manipulated, but a release from the Monroe County Prosecutor’s Office, which took over the investigation at Nessel’s request, noted that Sadman allegedly “aided or counselled two unqualified electors to vote.”
A Hamtramck police records clerk on Monday declined to release the police reports used in the investigations, saying he needed permission from a supervisor.
Court records obtained by Votebeat show that Sadman is facing five charges, including forgery, forging a signature on a ballot, and two counts of aiding an unqualified elector in voting, all felonies, alongside a misdemeanor count of making a false statement on an absentee ballot application. The felony charges carry a maximum penalty of 18 years in prison.
Hassan faces three charges — felony counts of forgery and forging a signature on a ballot, plus the misdemeanor of making a false statement on an absentee ballot application. The felony charges carry a maximum sentence of 10 years.
Nessel requested a special prosecutor because she had been a vocal critic of Hamtramck policies on LGBTQ rights, she said, and because she had been criticized for her prosecution of pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of Michigan. She wanted to avoid similar criticism in this investigation, in which several people being investigated are “of Arab descent,” according to the request. Her office referred a request for comment to the Monroe County Prosecutor’s Office. Jeffrey Yorkey, prosecuting attorney, told Votebeat he wouldn’t comment beyond the release.
Rana Faraj, Hamtramck City Clerk, told Votebeat on Monday that it is up to each voter to follow ballot requirements. There isn’t much clerks can do with ballots if a signature matches what appears in the qualified voter file and there is no other indication of wrongdoing.
“State laws are clear that your ballot should only be handled by you or a family member,” Faraj said. “But everyone’s cousins around here.”
The next Hamtramck City Council election is in November.
Hayley Harding is a reporter for Votebeat based in Michigan. Contact Hayley at hharding@votebeat.org.
