Hamtramck mayoral race hinges on 37 contested ballots to be counted Friday

The Wayne County Election Board will count 37 contested absentee ballots Friday at noon in the Hamtramck mayoral race between incumbent Adam Alharbi and challenger Muhith Mahmood.

Alharbi won the 2025 election by 11 votes. A Wayne County Circuit judge ordered the ballots counted after they were discovered in the city clerk's office after Election Day. The ballots could change the outcome, but a separate lawsuit challenging Mahmood's residency means they will not automatically determine who holds the seat.

Mahmood needs 25 votes from the 37 ballots to overtake Alharbi, assuming every ballot contains a valid vote for one of the two candidates. If he does not reach that threshold, Mahmood said he will accept the results. If he does, Alharbi will remain in office while the court considers the separate residency case.

The Wayne County Board of Canvassers has been ordered not to certify the new results at least until Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Kathleen M. McCarthy holds a hearing on the residency case. That hearing is scheduled for Oct. 22.

The 37 absentee ballots were found in the city clerk's office the day after Election Day in 2025. Staff discovered them inside opened envelopes. Then-Clerk Rana Faraj said she sealed the ballots in a secure container and delivered them to Wayne County election officials.

A December 2025 hand recount confirmed Alharbi's 11-vote victory, with a tally of 2,071 to 2,060. Alharbi took office in January.

The Wayne County Election Board will count the ballots Friday. A Wayne County Circuit judge ordered on Sept. 30 that they must be counted despite a year-long legal battle.

Alharbi has said he does not trust the ballots. Mahmood said he hopes the recount will change the outcome.

Even if Mahmood wins the vote count, Alharbi will continue to challenge Mahmood's residency in a separate lawsuit. In April 2025, private investigators hired by the city determined that Mahmood, then a member of the City Council, resided in Troy rather than Hamtramck.

Council members considered those findings and voted to allow Mahmood and another council member whose residency was disputed to continue to serve on council.

"Council looked at everything and approved it," Mahmood said. "(Alharbi) keeps bringing up these same issues again and again."

The court hearing on the residency case is scheduled for Oct. 22.