Hamtramck City Clerk Sues Mayor and Council Members Over Alleged Retaliation for Reporting Election Fraud.
In a lawsuit filed in Wayne County Circuit Court, Hamtramck City Clerk Rana Faraj has accused the city's mayor, six council members, and city manager of retaliating against her for reporting ballot harvesting, voter intimidation, and residency fraud during the 2025 election cycle. The complaint alleges that Faraj was "unlawfully retaliated against and constructively discharged" after she notified state and county officials of irregularities involving candidates and their supporters.
Faraj reported these issues to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on March 12, a month before criminal charges were filed against two men, including a sitting councilmember, for alleged absentee-ballot crimes. Her complaint to the state came before the city's attention to these matters, and Faraj later testified against the councilmember in court. However, after she reported her findings, several other witnesses scheduled to testify had their windows broken out the night before they were supposed to appear.
The lawsuit argues that Faraj spent months documenting suspicious activity, including surveillance footage showing individuals depositing large bundles of absentee ballots into drop boxes and returning on multiple days. It also alleges that she collected evidence that at least two candidates did not live in Hamtramck but remained on the ballot anyway.
Faraj says that instead of addressing the alleged misconduct, city leaders kept an eye on her, monitored her arrival and departure times, and openly discussed trying to find something to hold against her after they learned she had contacted the Attorney General's Office. One council member even told her that colleagues believed she had "authored the AG letter."
The lawsuit also centers on the discovery of 37 valid absentee ballots that were never counted in a mayoral race decided by fewer than a dozen votes. On election night, workers in Absent Voter Precinct 2 reported a discrepancy between the number of ballots issued and the number tabulated. Faraj says she immediately notified Wayne County and followed state guidance.
Two days later, during routine records work, staff found 37 signed ballot envelopes that still contained ballots that had been mistakenly mixed with emptied envelopes. Faraj's office photographed and documented the discovery, notified Wayne County, and delivered the ballots within 30 minutes with a police escort.
However, the lawsuit alleges that city officials had already broken the chain of custody. Five non-election staff, including the interim city manager, entered the clerk's office after hours on Nov. 5 and early Nov. 6. They were not sworn election workers, and they were not authorized to access the ballots, which could no longer be counted under state law.
Faraj was placed on paid administrative leave within days of making these discoveries, and publicly accused of "election meddling" and "election interference." She says the accusations were false and part of a coordinated effort to blame her for issues she had repeatedly warned about.
The lawsuit alleges that leaks from city officials led to misleading media reports that portrayed Faraj as under investigation, despite the city telling her the leave was not disciplinary. She says Hamtramck refused to correct the public narrative.
Attorney Jonathan Marko said in a statement that "Rana did what every city clerk is supposed to do, she followed the law and told the truth, and Hamtramck tried to run her out of the job for it." He added that the lawsuit is intended to hold officials accountable for retaliating against a whistleblower.
The complaint calls Faraj's leave a "constructive discharge," arguing that the city stripped her of the ability to perform her elected duties while pushing a false version of events.
In a lawsuit filed in Wayne County Circuit Court, Hamtramck City Clerk Rana Faraj has accused the city's mayor, six council members, and city manager of retaliating against her for reporting ballot harvesting, voter intimidation, and residency fraud during the 2025 election cycle. The complaint alleges that Faraj was "unlawfully retaliated against and constructively discharged" after she notified state and county officials of irregularities involving candidates and their supporters.
Faraj reported these issues to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on March 12, a month before criminal charges were filed against two men, including a sitting councilmember, for alleged absentee-ballot crimes. Her complaint to the state came before the city's attention to these matters, and Faraj later testified against the councilmember in court. However, after she reported her findings, several other witnesses scheduled to testify had their windows broken out the night before they were supposed to appear.
The lawsuit argues that Faraj spent months documenting suspicious activity, including surveillance footage showing individuals depositing large bundles of absentee ballots into drop boxes and returning on multiple days. It also alleges that she collected evidence that at least two candidates did not live in Hamtramck but remained on the ballot anyway.
Faraj says that instead of addressing the alleged misconduct, city leaders kept an eye on her, monitored her arrival and departure times, and openly discussed trying to find something to hold against her after they learned she had contacted the Attorney General's Office. One council member even told her that colleagues believed she had "authored the AG letter."
The lawsuit also centers on the discovery of 37 valid absentee ballots that were never counted in a mayoral race decided by fewer than a dozen votes. On election night, workers in Absent Voter Precinct 2 reported a discrepancy between the number of ballots issued and the number tabulated. Faraj says she immediately notified Wayne County and followed state guidance.
Two days later, during routine records work, staff found 37 signed ballot envelopes that still contained ballots that had been mistakenly mixed with emptied envelopes. Faraj's office photographed and documented the discovery, notified Wayne County, and delivered the ballots within 30 minutes with a police escort.
However, the lawsuit alleges that city officials had already broken the chain of custody. Five non-election staff, including the interim city manager, entered the clerk's office after hours on Nov. 5 and early Nov. 6. They were not sworn election workers, and they were not authorized to access the ballots, which could no longer be counted under state law.
Faraj was placed on paid administrative leave within days of making these discoveries, and publicly accused of "election meddling" and "election interference." She says the accusations were false and part of a coordinated effort to blame her for issues she had repeatedly warned about.
The lawsuit alleges that leaks from city officials led to misleading media reports that portrayed Faraj as under investigation, despite the city telling her the leave was not disciplinary. She says Hamtramck refused to correct the public narrative.
Attorney Jonathan Marko said in a statement that "Rana did what every city clerk is supposed to do, she followed the law and told the truth, and Hamtramck tried to run her out of the job for it." He added that the lawsuit is intended to hold officials accountable for retaliating against a whistleblower.
The complaint calls Faraj's leave a "constructive discharge," arguing that the city stripped her of the ability to perform her elected duties while pushing a false version of events.
. I mean, I get it, we need people to speak up about voter suppression and election fraud, but come on! If you're gonna sue someone for doing their job, at least try not to make it look like a witch hunt 
. This whole situation with Rana Faraj just sounds so unfair... I mean, she did her due diligence, reported some serious irregularities and then gets hit with all this drama 
. And now the city is trying to cover their tracks by saying she was "constructively discharged" which basically means they just made it hard for her to do her job? That's some shady stuff 
I'm low-key shocked by this whole situation in Hamtramck! Like, Rana Faraj is literally trying to do the right thing and report some major voter shenanigans, and what does the city do? They start playing dirty with her 
. The fact that they monitored her arrival and departure times, kept an eye on her (like a real-life "House of Cards" plot twist 
) and even called her "election meddling" and "election interference"... that's just sickening! 
. Like, what's the story behind that? Was it some kind of weird mix-up or was there something more going on? And why did they break the chain of custody like that? It's all very suspicious... but I guess we'll just have to wait and see how this whole thing plays out 
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) in her lawsuit. Like, she followed the law, reported some major issues, and now the city is getting called out for its retaliation 
. Kudos to Attorney Jonathan Marko for stepping up and representing her interests 
!
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. And now Rana is getting paid leave because the city is trying to cover their tracks? It's disgusting 
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. Rana's doing everything right and they're the ones who are getting caught up in their own web of deceit. The least Hamtramck can do is give her a break and let her finish her term without all this drama 
City Clerk Sued Over Alleged Retaliation for Exposing Election Irregularities 
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i mean, i'm not surprised that the mayor and council members would try to cover their tracks, but it's still pretty shady. rana was basically just doing her job, and then hamtramck tries to make her look like she's the one who messed up 
it's not right that she had to deal with all this stress and drama because of her attempts to expose some bad stuff.
. I mean, she's just doing her job, following the law and reporting irregularities in the election process... what more could they want from her? 
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. Breaking into the clerk's office at night, accusing her of under investigation when she wasn't... come on! 
You go, Rana! 
. The city is supposed to have people like her who speak truth to power, not be threatened or intimidated into keeping quiet. And the fact that they're trying to spin this as if Rana was just "meddling" in the election is just ridiculous 
. Marko is totally on point with his statement too, a constructive discharge? That's just code for "we fired you and then tried to make it look like it was your fault".
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. This whole thing stinks to high heaven, if you ask me...
what is going on in hamtramck? first they report some election irregularities and then suddenly she's being retaliated against? i mean, shouldn't they be grateful for someone doing their job right? 
. I think we need to take a closer look at what happened here and make sure that our city officials are being held accountable for their actions 
. We can't just sit back and let people be bullied or retaliated against for trying to do the right thing 
