Michigan Secretary of State once again calls for firearms ban at polling locations | Priya Vijayakumar/Michigan Radio

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson announced Thursday that she wants to see legislation to ban firearms within 100 feet of polling places. “The time for only thoughts and prayers is over,” said Benson at the annual Judge Damon Keith Memorial Soul Food Luncheon. Benson issued a similar directive to local clerks to ban the open carry of firearms at polling places in 2020. But a judge struck down that directive. The plan now is to include the gun ban in legislation on voting rights that’s being drafted. “Our kids deserve to go to school free from fear of gun violence. They deserve to go to church or synagogues or mosques with their families to worship free from fear of gun violence,” said Benson. “They deserve to live in a democracy where their voices are heard and where they can cast their ballots free from intimidation or threats of violence. That is the world I am fighting for.” Benson is collaborating with lawmakers and local election officials on the legislation.

Full Article: Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson once again calls for firearms ban at polling locations

Michigan election worker charged with equipment tampering wants Kent County case tossed | Bradley Massman/MLive

An attorney representing a man charged for allegedly tampering with a voting machine wants his client’s case dismissed because of a lack of evidence, court records show. A motion filed in Kent County Circuit Court last month requests a judge to dismiss the charges against 68-year-old James D. Holkeboer. Holkeboer is charged with falsifying records/returns under election law and using a computer to commit a crime for allegedly tampering with a voting machine after the primary election last August. In the motion to quash, defense attorney Charles E. Chamberlain Jr. argued there is no evidence that Holkeboer fraudulently removed or secreted a voter list. “The felony complaint provides that on or about Aug. 3, 2022, Mr. Holkeboer, ‘being an inspector of election, did fraudulently remove or secrete, in whole or in part, an election list of voters, which are required to be made, filed, or preserved by the Michigan election law …,” the motion states. Holkeboer was hired as an election inspector in Precinct 8 for Gaines Township for the Aug. 2 primary election. He is not an employee of Kent County or Gaines Township, but was a resident trained and certified by clerks to work at precincts during elections as well as at absentee ballot counting boards.

Full Article: Election worker charged with equipment tampering wants Kent County case tossed

With a roll of the dice, Michigan begins audit of 2022 election | Ben Orner/MLive.com

Over the next month, state and local election officials will audit Michigan’s 2022 general election, checking the accuracy of results and security of procedures. These more than 200 audits across counties, cities and townships will see Bureau of Elections staff and county clerks review ballots and election administration in randomly selected precincts and identify best practices for future elections. “It is somewhat like a recount, but it is not a recount,” said Michigan elections director Jonathan Brater. “What we’re doing is counting enough containers across the state to make sure that – within a statistical level of certainty – we’re confident that the tabulators got the proper result.” Brater watched Thursday as a handful of local election officials and bureau staff rolled a 10-sided die to determine which batches of ballots will be hand-counted to check the accuracy of Michigan’s vote tabulation machines.

Full Article: With a roll of the dice, Michigan begins audit of 2022 election – mlive.com

Michigan lawmakers announce plans to protect election officials in wake of threats | Anna Gustafson/Michigan Advance

After threats against election workers have soared in the wake of a right-wing campaign to push lies about the 2020 election, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Democratic lawmakers announced Tuesday plans to protect election officials and crack down on those intentionally sharing misinformation about elections and voting. “As Michigan’s chief election officer, my responsibility is to ensure that our elections are accessible, safe, secure, and that the results are an accurate reflection of the will of the people,” Benson said during Tuesday’s press conference. “It’s a role that increasingly forces all of us in this work, whether we consider ourselves Republican, Democrat or independent, to endure threats, harassment, false and malicious attacks on our character and integrity, and sometimes even violence. “We cannot have a secure democracy if we do not protect the security of the people who administer, protect and stand guard over our elections,” Benson continued.

Full Article: Benson, Dem lawmakers announce plans to protect election officials in wake of threats ⋆ Michigan Advance

Michigan: Accuracy affirmed or errors exposed? Inside the proposal recount | Ben Orner/Live.com

The rustling of paper overtakes a city hall meeting room as election workers recount thousands of ballots by hand from four central Michigan counties. Votes examined here are among hundreds of thousands from 43 counties recounted since last Wednesday. So far, results have changed very, very little. But where election officials say they’ve seen the accuracy of Michigan’s midterm election upheld, the group behind the recount says it’s seen evidence of misconduct. “[The recount] was just to make sure that the election was accurate and run properly,” said Stefanie Lambert, a lawyer for Election Integrity Force, which requested the recount. “And there’s some very interesting problems that were discovered.” Despite the recount’s massive breadth, which Lambert said came via random sample, Proposals 2 and 3 passed by too many votes to be overturned – about 1.4 million votes combined. Prop 2 expands voting rights, including nine days of early in-person voting, and Prop 3 protects abortion rights. When the Board of State Canvassers greenlit the recount, chair Tony Daunt – a Republican – worried it was a bad-faith “fishing expedition” to further false claims of widespread fraud that originated after the 2020 election.

Full Article: Accuracy affirmed or errors exposed? Inside Michigan’s proposal recount – mlive.com

Michigan elections director warns against further recount ‘disruptions’ | Beth LeBlanc and Craig Mauger/The Detroit News

Michigan Elections Director Jonathan Brater in a Friday letter warned against disruptions at recount locations across the state, citing examples of some challengers overstepping their roles in the recount process and resulting in at least one individual being escorted from a Marquette recount operation. Challengers who disagree with bureau staff decisions are free to appeal to the Board of State Canvassers, but the Bureau of Elections “will not permit disruptive behavior” at the recount locations, Brater wrote to Daniel Hartman, a lawyer for recount petitioner Jerome Jay Allen and the Election Integrity Force. “To the extent challengers are engaging in this behavior, they run the risk of hindering or delaying the conduct of the recount,” Brater wrote, encouraging challengers to review recount procedure so as to avoid disruptions.

Full Article: Michigan elections director warns against further recount ‘disruptions’

Michigan Board of State Canvassers approves 2022 election results | Clara Hendrickson/Detroit Free Press

During a chaotic meeting that lasted over four hours, the state’s bipartisan elections panel rebuffed calls Monday from losing candidates not to officially certify the recent midterm election in Michigan, and the panel unanimously accepted the results. The vote by the Board of State Canvassers − made up of two Democrats and two Republicans − marks the first certification of a general election since the otherwise routine process garnered national attention two years ago, when allies of former President Donald Trump pressured GOP members not to certify the results and raised the prospect the panel might deadlock along partisan lines. But the board that year certified the election in a 3-0 vote with one GOP canvasser abstaining. During a lengthy public comment period that followed the certification vote of the recent Nov. 8 midterm, some echoed those calls from 2020 not to certify the results, accused state canvassers of committing treason, pleaded for a so-called forensic audit and said that they would pray for members of the board. “I will take prayers from anywhere,” said Republican canvasser and board chair Tony Daunt, in response to one commenter. Daunt kicked off the meeting by asking those attending to conduct themselves appropriately, but at times, attendees interrupted the proceedings with loud jeers directed at the canvassers.

Full Article: Michigan Board of State Canvassers approves 2022 election results

Michigan: Despite fears, election passes without intimidation or interference | Oralandar Brand-Williams/Bridge Michigan

After fears of Election Day “violence and disruption” in Michigan, and signs that far-right activists were mobilizing as poll workers and election challengers, officials were relieved to see that those threats didn’t materialize. There were no major reports of conflicts as of late Tuesday night. Even the polling place glitches and delays voters saw in other states were rare in Michigan. Like most cities around the state, Flint prepared for the worst and instead experienced an election that appeared — under the direction of a brand-new replacement for the city clerk — to have gone off smoothly. Inside Flint’s counting room for absentee ballots on the third floor of City Hall, there was constant scrutiny from partisan poll challengers late into the night but no disruptions. The clerk and her staff worked into early Wednesday morning, past 1 a.m., to count thousands of absentee ballots as some 10 Republican challengers and two Democratic challengers watched. The GOP challengers identified themselves as members of the Michigan Republican Party, but declined to comment further. A staff member said two ACLU attorneys were also among those watching the process.

Full Article: Despite fears, Michigan election passes without intimidation or interference | Bridge Michigan

Michigan: 2020 election upheaval continues to strain Antrim County | Mardi Link/Traverse City Record-Eagle

A federal magistrate judge recommended dismissing a civil lawsuit filed against the Jan. 6 Committee by a Washington, D.C., lobbyist, who in November 2020 visited Antrim County by private jet as part of a team of political operatives seeking local election data. The phone records of Katherine Friess, of Arlington, Va., and Vail, Colo., were previously subpoenaed by the U.S. House Select Committee to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, court records show. Friess, listed in 13th Circuit Court documents as an expert witness in a since-dismissed civil suit accusing Antrim County of voter fraud, sued the Select Committee, referencing her work as a staff attorney for former President Donald Trump. The Select Committee sought Friess’ phone, text, private message and other communication records, sent or received between Nov. 1, 2020 and Jan. 31, 2021, a timeframe which includes dates Friess traveled to Antrim County. Magistrate Judge Kristen L. Mix on Oct. 26 recommended a dismissal motion filed July 11 by attorneys representing the Select Committee be granted, which could clear the way for the committee to access Friess’ phone records.

Full Article: 2020 election upheaval continues to strain Antrim County | Local News | record-eagle.com

Michigan Supreme Court suspends order on poll challengers | Clara Hendrickson/Detroit Free Press

The Michigan Supreme Court on Thursday suspended a Michigan Court of Claims order — celebrated by Republicans — that required revisions to the instructions for election observers that monitor polling locations and absentee ballot counting rooms. The Michigan Supreme Court’s order leaves in place for the general election the same poll challenger guidelines used in the recent August primary. Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and election officials raised concerns that the last-minute revisions ordered by the lower court would cause confusion and chaos at the polls and counting rooms. Former Michigan elections director Chris Thomas worried it would potentially pave the way for intimidation against election workers. Republicans had heralded the earlier lower court order as a legal victory in response to a pair of lawsuits challenging the legality of the poll challenger manual: one from the Michigan GOP and Republican National Committee and another from GOP candidates and challengers representing organizations that deny the legitimacy of the 2020 election.

Full Article: Michigan Supreme Court suspends order on poll challengers

Michigan election workers navigate increasing controversy, scrutiny | Jared Weber/Lansing State Journal

For about 15 years, Janet Glisson has served as a precinct worker in Lansing, helping thousands of people vote on Election Day. In 2020, she coordinated the Cumberland Elementary School precinctwith her granddaughter, Abigail Wiefreich. This year, at Wiefreich’s urging, she moved behind the scenes to work with the city’s absentee ballot counting board because of concerns about safety. “Because of the (2020) election — the presidential election was so volatile — she didn’t want me to work in the precinct,” Glisson said as she compiled instruction manuals for this year’s precinct workers. “She said, ‘Seniors don’t need to be here.'” Election day is less than two weeks away, and election administrators and inspectors have been preparing: navigating several turbulent years, changing processes, fight a lack of election infrastructure, a pandemic and a right-wing movement casting doubt on election security. Officials say some Republican election deniers, continuing to push former President Donald Trump’s debunked claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 election, have sought to mobilize party members as election challengers and poll watchers. Some have even encouraged supporters to become election workers so they can search for evidence of what they perceive to be wrongdoing.

Full Article: Michigan election workers navigate increasing controversy, scrutiny

Michigan Election conspiracists have checklist for poll challengers: What’s on it | Clara Hendrickson/Detroit Free Press

Set up hidden cameras to capture license plate numbers. If you go at night, show up armed. These aren’t battlefield directions. They’re instructions laid out as part of a strategic operation spearheaded by prominent election conspiracists seeking to keep close tabs on Michigan’s upcoming midterm election. Michigan is one of several states targeted by the America Project, an organization led by allies of former President Donald Trump to recruit citizen election monitors in ways election experts worry blurs the lines between lawful oversight and vigilantism. In a promotional video touting the America Project’s launch, Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn calls the 2020 presidential election “an assault on our sacred election process.” The America Project’s website lists former Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne as part of the “fearless, battle-tested team.” Byrne and Flynn participated in failed efforts to overturn the 2020 election that included an attempt to persuade Trump to order the military to seize voting machines. Two leaders from the Michigan GOP — ethnic vice chair Bernadette Smith and grassroots vice chair Marian Sheridan — appeared on panels supported by the America Project.

Full Article: Election conspiracists have checklist for Michigan poll challengers

Michigan GOP scores victory in election challenger lawsuit | Clara Hendrickson/Detroit Free Press

With the midterm election just weeks away, a Michigan judge issued an order Thursday invalidating new instructions for election challengers created by the Bureau of Elections. The order from Michigan Court of Claims Judge Brock Swartzle marks a legal victory for the Michigan GOP and Republican National Committee which brought the lawsuit challenging the legality of the election challenger manual issued by the Bureau of Elections this year. Swartzle’s order bars election officials from using the manual and requires Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Michigan elections director Jonathan Brater to rescind the manual or revise it to comply with Michigan election law. Swartzle found that some of the provisions in the manual such as a ban on the use of electronic devices at absentee counting boards were at odds with the law or failed to undergo the proper rule-making procedure with input from the public and state lawmakers.

Full Article: Michigan GOP scores victory in election challenger lawsuit

In Michigan ‘It’s just a full-throttle attack on elections and on democracy’ | Jon King/ Michigan Advance

Election deniers, the legislation they are proposing and their efforts to dismantle Michigan’s voting systems ahead of the midterm elections, are being highlighted as the top threats to democracy in Michigan. That’s from an analysis by the Washington, D.C.-based Defend Democracy Project, which surveyed grassroots organizers, legal analysts and academic experts to identify what they assess to be the key risks. The report, “The Three Greatest Threats to Democracy in Michigan,” describes the primary threats as being intertwined. Yet Rebecca Parks, the research director for the Defend Democracy Project, says there is also coordination among these various efforts. “We see the same people pop up again and again and again and some of the same groups,” said Parks. “For instance, the sort of floods of public records requests that have just been really inundating county officials asking for sort of nonsensical records or just thousands and thousands and thousands of records from the 2020 elections that we’re seeing all across the country.”

Full Article: ‘It’s just a full-throttle attack on elections and on democracy in Michigan’ ⋆ Michigan Advance

Michigan: Republican clerk could be charged in voting-system breach | Nathan Layne/Reuters

A Michigan township official who promotes false conspiracy theories of a rigged 2020 election could face criminal charges related to two voting-system security breaches, according to previously unreported records and legal experts. A state police detective recommended that the Michigan attorney general consider unspecified charges amid a months-long probe into one breach related to the Republican clerk’s handling of a vote tabulator, according to a June email from the detective to state and local officials. Reuters obtained the email through a public-records request. The clerk, Stephanie Scott, oversaw voting in rural Adams Township until the state last year revoked her authority over elections. Scott has publicly embraced baseless claims that the 2020 election was rigged against former U.S. President Donald Trump and has posted online about the QAnon conspiracy theory. In a second breach of the township’s voting system, the clerk gave a file containing confidential voter data to an information-technology expert who is a suspect in other alleged Michigan election-security violations. The expert, Benjamin Cotton, worked with voter-fraud conspiracists seeking unauthorized access to election systems in other states, according to court records reviewed by Reuters. The incident has not been previously reported.

Full Article: Republican clerk could be charged in Michigan voting-system breach | Reuters

Michigan election worker charged with tampering with voting equipment | Nathan Layne/Reuters

An election worker in a western Michigan town has been charged with two felonies after allegedly inserting a flash drive into a computer containing confidential voter registration data during an election in August, local officials said on Wednesday. At the Aug. 2 primary, an election worker was seen inserting a USB drive into the computer used to administer the election at a precinct in Gaines Township in Kent County, according to a statement by county clerk Lisa Posthumus Lyons. The incident highlights the so-called “insider threat” risk that has increasingly worried election officials, especially in battleground states like Michigan where falsehoods about systemic voter fraud in the 2020 election have spread most widely. “This incident is extremely egregious and incredibly alarming. Not only is it a violation of Michigan law, but it is a violation of public trust and of the oath all election workers are required to take,” Lyons said in the statement.

Full Article: Michigan election worker charged with tampering with voting equipment | Reuters

Michigan prosecutor: ‘Additional investigation’ needed on DePerno election case | Dave Boucher/Detroit Free Press

The special prosecutor appointed to review broad allegations of possible criminal conduct by the Republican candidate for Michigan attorney general and eight others who sought to undermine the results of the 2020 election says more investigative work is needed before a decision can be made on bringing charges. In a statement, Muskegon County Prosecutor DJ Hilson declined to say if his decision on whether to criminally charge GOP attorney general hopeful Matthew DePerno or others allegedly involved in the election-related scheme would come before or after the Nov. 8 general election. “As prosecutor I have an ethical obligation to ensure that all necessary evidence and information is obtained and reviewed so that a determination of criminal charges can be made.  In order to meet that obligation, I have determined that additional investigative work needs to be done and I am working with investigators on those issues,” Hilson said in an email Wednesday morning. “I am acting as expeditiously as possible, but due to this ethical obligation, I cannot say at this time when any decisions would be made.”

Full Article: Michigan prosecutor: ‘Additional investigation’ needed on DePerno case

Michigan is trying to ensure security of its voting systems after tabulator breaches | Oralandar Brand-Williams/Votebeat

As the midterms approach, the Michigan secretary of state’s office has found itself repeatedly defending the state’s election system against local clerks. Experts say the clearest vulnerability facing Michigan are such insider threats, which the secretary of state has little ability to proactively prevent. The problem became most evident after a handful of local clerks last year allegedly gave people unauthorized access to election equipment, forcing the secretary of state’s staff to manage the fallout. Now at least one of those clerks is making false claims about the state’s voting machines and hinting she may conduct the election without them. Michigan is among the closest watched midterm battlegrounds, and the allegations that clerks in Barry County’s Irving Township, Missaukee County’s Lake Township, and Roscommon County, and a supervisor in Roscommon’s Richfield Township, allowed pro-Trump actors to have unauthorized access to tabulators last year sent shockwaves through the state. Experts and state officials agree that there has been no lasting damage to the state’s voting systems, because the protective measures in place worked. But Michigan’s decentralized election administration means the first line of defense in election security are the 1,609 county, municipal and township clerks, who are responsible for overseeing and protecting equipment and following the law — or not. The widely disseminated responsibilities make it difficult for the state to ensure that the rules are consistently followed. While there is no indication that other clerks have allowed unauthorized access and several interviewed for this story vowed to keep the machines secure, elections security consultant Ryan Macias said insiders willingly providing access remains “the biggest risk to security.”

Full Article: Michigan tabulator breaches: How security works when clerks follow rules – Votebeat Michigan – Nonpartisan local reporting on elections and voting

Michigan sheriff: Clerks can hand over tabulators. Experts: He’s wrong | Craig Mauger/The Detroit News

Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf contended in an interview this week that local clerks have the “authority” to hand over voting equipment to outside groups, a reading of Michigan election law that experts say is incorrect and problematic. Leaf was one of nine individuals whom Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office referenced in a petition for a special prosecutor over an alleged conspiracy to improperly obtain tabulators amid a push by supporters of former President Donald Trump to investigate the 2020 presidential election. Leaf’s department had launched a probe into unproven claims of election fraud in his west Michigan county, where Trump won 65% of the vote. Irving Township Clerk Sharon Olson indicated that she had been asked by Leaf to cooperate with the investigation and she later turned over a tabulator to a third party, according to the Attorney General’s Office. The Irving Township tabulator ended up being one of five that were taken to rental properties in Oakland County, where self-described cybersecurity experts “broke into” them and “performed ‘tests'” on them, the Attorney General’s Office alleged. Asked at an event Tuesday if he encouraged Olson to hand over her tabulator, Leaf replied, “No. That didn’t happen.” But moments later, he added, “You understand that the clerk has that authority, right? … Yeah. Even to a third party. That’s in the election law.” However, Jake Rollow, spokesman for Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, said local clerks can give their equipment to only authorized vendors, contractors and voting system test laboratories.

Full Article: Michigan sheriff: Clerks can hand over tabulators. Experts: He’s wrong

Michigan secretary of state says officials worried about ‘violence and disruption’ on Election Day | Zach Schonfeld/The Hill

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) on Sunday said election officials nationwide are most worried about “violence and disruption” as the midterm elections approach. “Violence and disruption on Election Day, first and foremost, and in the days surrounding the election,” Benson told CBS “Face the Nation” chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett when asked about her biggest concern. “Secondly, there’s a concern about the ongoing spread of misinformation, which, of course fuels the potential for additional threats, harassment and even violence on Election Day,” Benson added. Despite her worries, Benson noted that election officials have been working for roughly two years to protect the integrity of the election process, an effort she described as a success “at every turn,” vowing to seek accountability for anyone who attempts to interfere with November’s midterm contests. “Democracy prevailed in 2020,” she told Garrett. “There have been, in Michigan and in other states, no significant attempts apart from the tragedy in our Capitol on Jan. 6 to really see disruption of the polling places on Election Day itself.”

Full Article: Michigan secretary of state says officials worried about ‘violence and disruption’ on Election Day | The Hill

Michigan police investigating how voting machine wound up for sale online | Donie O’Sullivan, Curt Devine and Kimberly Berryman/CNN

Authorities in Michigan are investigating how a missing voting machine from the state wound up for sale on eBay last month for $1,200. The machine was purchased by a cybersecurity expert in Connecticut who alerted Michigan authorities and is now waiting for law enforcement to pick up the device. CNN determined the machine was dropped off at a Goodwill store in Northern Michigan, before being sold last month on eBay by a man in Ohio. In an interview with CNN, the Ohio man said he purchased the machine online at Goodwill for $7.99 before auctioning it on eBay for $1,200. Election machines are part of the United States’ critical infrastructure and are supposed to be kept under lock and key. It’s an issue that has become increasingly important in recent years as people have sought to gain unauthorized access to election systems in a futile attempt to prove the false notion that the 2020 election was stolen. News of the sold machine comes as authorities in Michigan, Colorado and Georgia are probing apparent efforts to gain unauthorized access to voting machines or obtain data from them following the 2020 election.

Full Article: Police investigating how Michigan voting machine wound up for sale online – CNNPolitics

Michigan sheriff sought to seize multiple voting machines, records show | By Peter Eisler and Nathan Layne/Reuters

A sheriff in Barry County, Michigan, already under state investigation for alleged involvement in an illegal breach of a vote-counting machine, sought warrants in July to seize other machines in an effort to prove former President Donald Trump’s claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election, documents reviewed by Reuters showed. The proposed warrants sought authorization to seize vote tabulators and various election records from the offices of the Barry County and Woodland Township clerks, the documents showed. The two jurisdictions have not been previously identified as targets in the sheriff’s investigation into suspicions that machines in the county were rigged to siphon votes from Trump. The warrants were submitted in July to the office of Barry County Prosecuting Attorney Julie Nakfoor Pratt, a Republican, who told Reuters she declined to endorse them because she felt the sheriff lacked sufficient evidence to support his suspicions that the machines were rigged. Reuters obtained copies of the documents under a Freedom of Information request filed with the prosecutor’s office. The requests suggest Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf, a Republican, was seeking to broaden his investigation of alleged election fraud even as he faced investigation from the state attorney general’s office.

Full Article: Michigan sheriff sought to seize multiple voting machines, records show | Reuters

Michigan election officials demanded change after 2020. Their calls so far have gone unmet. | Clara Hendrickson/Detroit Free Press

As voters across the country prepare for the upcoming midterm elections, many will contend with a whole new set of election rules from lawmakers who ushered in major changes in the wake of 2020. But in Michigan, the landscape remains largely unchanged. Divided government in the state killed Republican proposals enacted elsewhere as Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer repeatedly wielded her veto pen to strike down GOP-sponsored bills, including strict voter ID requirements and a ban on private donations for election offices. But even changes favored by lawmakers and election officials from both parties were sidelined by the governor or stalled in the state Legislature ahead of the August primary. Clerks who administer elections have pushed for changes they say will improve voter access and confidence such as time to process ballots before Election Day, training requirements for election challengers and allowing military voters to return ballots electronically. But inaction has left election officials scratching their heads. “Both sides are saying we want to make commonsense voting reforms,” said Harrison Township Clerk Adam Wit, a Republican who was recently elected as president of Michigan’s municipal clerks association.

Full Article: Michigan election officials’ calls for change have gone unmet

Michigan legislature mum on if it will allow clerks to preprocess absentee ballots in November | Jordyn Hermani/MLive.com

If preprocessing is a priority for the heads of the House and Senate’s election committees, then it’s one of several as the legislature turns its sights toward the 2022 election – and definitely not at the forefront. MLive spoke to a handful of local clerks following the Aug. 2 primary and the bulk – regardless of party affiliation – said they hope lawmakers address two main things before the Nov. 8 general election: The ability to preprocess absentee ballots and increased funding. Lawmakers though, specifically Sen. Ruth Johnson, R-Groveland Township, say it’s one of a handful of things they’re mulling this year regarding changes to how Michigan administers elections. Even with that acknowledgement, none of those topics are guaranteed to cross the legislative finish line and be implemented prior to November. Michigan flirted with preprocessing back in 2020 when 3.3 million people – 60% of voters that year – chose to vote from home in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. At that time, the legislature allowed local clerks, though only for cities and townships with least 25,000 residents, to open the envelopes that absentee ballots came.

Full Article: Legislature mum on if it will allow clerks to preprocess absentee ballots in November – mlive.com

Michigan: Preprocessing, more funding among clerks’ asks for legislature | Ben Orner/MLive.com

Michigan’s primary election passed by last week with few bumps in the road. But with the most decentralized election system in America, local clerks from both parties are calling for critical changes, and they want state lawmakers’ attention. Election results are notoriously slow in Michigan, with the most finger-pointing directed toward mail-in ballot processing. State law doesn’t allow tabulation of absentee ballots – which numbered more than 1.1 million in last week’s election – until 7 a.m. on Election Day. Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum told MLive that things ran smoothly in her jurisdiction on Aug. 2, but it could be smoother. She said there is room for lawmakers to add absentee (also called AV) ballot preprocessing, while also give more funding to train more election officials.

Full Article: Preprocessing, more funding among Michigan clerks’ asks for legislature – mlive.com

Michigan: Trump-backed attorney general candidate involved in voting-system breach, documents show | Nathan Layne/Nathan LayneReuters

The Republican nominee for Michigan attorney general led a team that gained unauthorized access to voting equipment while hunting for evidence to support former President Donald Trump’s false election-fraud claims, according to a Reuters analysis of court filings and public records. The analysis shows that people working with Matthew DePerno – the Trump-endorsed nominee for the state’s top law-enforcement post – examined a vote tabulator from Richfield Township, a conservative stronghold of 3,600 people in northern Michigan’s Roscommon County. The Richfield security breach is one of four similar incidents being investigated by Michigan’s current attorney general, Democrat Dana Nessel. Under state law, it is a felony to seek or provide unauthorized access to voting equipment. DePerno did not respond to a request for comment. The involvement of a Republican attorney general nominee in a voting-system breach comes amid a national effort by backers of Trump’s fraud falsehoods to win state offices that could prove critical in deciding any future contested elections.

Full Article: Exclusive: Trump-backed Michigan attorney general candidate involved in voting-system breach, documents show | Reuters

Michigan Attorney General says 9 people are focus of voting machine breach investigation. Who are they? | Clara Hendrickson and Dave Boucher/Detroit Free Press

Michigan GOP attorney general candidate Matt DePerno is not the only one in the national spotlight after state investigators accused him of participating in a conspiracy to access voting machines in the wake of the 2020 presidential election. DePerno was part of a nine-person team now at the center of the criminal probe, according to the office of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. Nessel’s Office, along with Michigan State Police, are investigating a plot “to unlawfully obtain access to voting machines” used in the 2020 presidential election and recently petitioned an independent arm of the attorney general’s office to appoint a special prosecutor to determine whether criminal charges should be brought against those allegedly involved. The group includes those who seized ballot tabulators, broke into them and assisted in gaining unauthorized access to the machines, according to a petition from Nessel’s Office. The petition claims that DePerno, lawyer Stefanie Lambert Junttila and state Rep. Daire Rendon, R-Lake City, “orchestrated a coordinated plan to gain access to voting tabulators” from Roscommon County, Richfield Township, Irving Township and Lake City Township. A group of four subsequently handled the equipment to conduct its own election review, according to the petition from the attorney general’s office. That team included Ben Cotton, Jeff Lenberg, Doug Logan and James Penrose.

Full Article: Michigan voting investigation: The 9 people at the center of the probe

Michigan changed how election results get reported. Expect delays in November | Craig Mauger and Kayla Ruble/The Detroit News

An effort to make Michigan elections more secure and quell fears that electronic equipment could be hacked delayed the reporting of Tuesday’s primary results, which officials said could foreshadow even lengthier waits in November. In some counties, including Wayne and Macomb, it took nearly four hours for partial initial results to be posted publicly on Tuesday after election workers had to hand-deliver memory cards from vote-counting machines instead of transmitting them using cellular modems. In November, officials warn the reporting of election results could be even slower because of a crush of absentee ballots that can’t legally be processed until Election Day, and a voter turnout that could be double the 2.1 million ballots cast in last week’s primary. “I’m not looking forward to November,” Chesterfield Township Clerk Cindy Berry said. “We really want to deliver results quickly, accurately and with confidence, and this will hinder our ability to do some of that, and the public is going to blame us.” The fallout points to the delicate balancing act facing election officials in the battleground state, where concerns about fraud and tampering have grown since the 2020 presidential election. Delays in releasing results create frustration and, potentially, opportunities for conspiracy theories to flourish.

Full Article: Michigan changed how election results get reported. Expect delays in November

Michigan: GOP activist group instructs poll watchers to call 911 | Heidi Przybyla/Politico

Members of a GOP activist group coaching Michigan poll workers and watchers before Tuesday’s primary election instructed them to call 911 and contact sheriffs to involve law enforcement in election-related complaints, according to a recording of a Sunday night meeting obtained by POLITICO. The plan, outlined by Joanne Bakale, who is running a voter project for the Election Integrity Force and who led the meeting, is the latest example of how many individuals who falsely maintain there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election are seeking to involve law enforcement around elections administration. “One of the issues that we had in the 2020 election is that no one actually filed any complaints with the police,” said Bakale, advising participants to document issues around voting or voting machines by calling 911. In 2020, dozens of poll challengers were locked outside Detroit’s TCF Center, where absentee ballots were being counted, after Covid-19 safety protocols were violated. Since then, many activists and GOP officials have insisted they witnessed fraud, despite a GOP-led investigation refuting the claims, and worked to form relationships with local police.

Full Article: GOP activist group instructs Michigan poll watchers to call 911 – POLITICO

Michigan: Unofficial election results delayed after some counties changed how results are transmitted | Sophia Kalakailo/Michigan Radio

Delays in unofficial reporting of results in Michigan’s primary were caused by a change in how those results are transmitted from the local level to the county level. As of Wednesday morning, results were still coming in from large communities. At least 70 Michigan counties have stopped using modems to transmit unofficial election results electronically, according to Michigan Department of State Spokesperson Tracy Wimmer. Wayne County, Michigan’s largest, is among those that stopped using modems to transmit results. The shift comes amid a push to increase election security by critics who doubt the results of the November 2020 presidential election — despite Republican-led audits that upheld the results — and disproven claims of fraud involving voting machines connected to the internet through modems. “This is being done in accordance with guidance issued by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission in order to, one, prevent any remote possibility — which is very small — of interference, but also to counter the misinformation that is circulated concerning the use of modems,” Wimmer said.

Full Article: Unofficial election results delayed after some counties changed how results are transmitted