The State of Michigan will be running a pilot program auditing election results after the general election on November 6. Michigan will be part of a pilot program that will verify that voting equipment and election officials performed properly. “With this pilot of risk-liming audits, Michigan further bolsters its reputation as a national leader in election security and integrity,” Secretary of State Ruth Johnson said. “With our new election equipment and secure voter file, and now with our pilot of risk-limiting audits, we are well ahead of other states in strengthening election integrity.” Three cities in Michigan will participate in the pilot program, Rochester Hills, Kalamazoo and Lansing. “I thank the clerks in Kalamazoo, Lansing and Rochester Hills for stepping up and being willing to pioneer how these audits could work in Michigan,” Johnson said. “Their participation shows how much election officials across Michigan take election protection seriously and are working to further strengthen voting security and integrity.”
Johnson described a risk-limiting audit as “a comprehensive check that uses statistical methods to confirm whether reported election results are correct and detect possible anomalies that may need further scrutiny caused by human error or possible manipulation.”
The goal of the audit is to determine if this program should be rolled out across Michigan.
“We have carefully reviewed and improved our systems, and we are putting $11.2 million of security grants toward further strengthening them against attack,” Johnson said. “Risk-limiting audits will be another important tool we’ll use to defend and strengthen election integrity in Michigan.”