Michigan: Trump repeats false voter fraud claims as millions in Michigan request absentee ballots | Dave Boucher/Detroit Free Press
It’s possible, if not likely, more Michiganders will vote by mail than in person this year. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced that more than 1.8 million absentee ballots have been requested and 600,000 already have been completed and returned ahead of the Aug. 4 primary. If that trend holds for the Nov. 3 general election, that means the millions of absentee ballots may make the difference in a presidential race decided in the state by the slightest of margins in 2016. Yet President Donald Trump repeated his unsubstantiated attacks on mail-in voting in a tweet Tuesday, alleging the practice may lead to a “rigged election.” “Mail-In Voting, unless changed by the courts, will lead to the most CORRUPT ELECTION in our Nation’s History! #RIGGEDELECTION,” the president stated in the tweet. Chris Gustafson, a Trump campaign spokesman in Michigan, did not directly address questions about the president’s tweet. But he said the GOP does not oppose mail-in voting. “Republicans have always supported absentee voting with safeguards in place. What we oppose is a nationwide experiment that would eliminate those safeguards, invite fraud, and weaken the integrity of our elections,” Gustafson said in an emailed statement Tuesday.