Michigan governor’s budget proposal includes $43 million for new voting machines | Hayley Harding/Votebeat

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s proposed 2027-2028 budget includes more than $43 million for new voting equipment, an appropriation election officials across Michigan say is critical in keeping the state’s election infrastructure secure and up to date. The money is only a tiny portion of the $88.1 billion proposal Whitmer unveiled Wednesday. If approved, it will allow clerks to upgrade their machinery to the newest federal standards without forcing cities and townships to shoulder all the costs on their own. If that money doesn’t win approval from the Legislature, however, it could put a major crunch on local clerks who have already seen their elections budgets double or even triple in the last decade with recent expansions to voting procedures. Read Article

Michigan Secretary of State says flawed review risks disenfranchising eligible Michigan voters | Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson says some Michigan voters may be at risk of criminal investigation or having voter registration cancelled after a Republican county clerk made claims that he found proof of non-citizens voting in Michigan. She said an investigation into Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini’s allegations that he had identified 15 non-citizens who were registered to vote in Michigan returned mixed results. Of the 15 residents flagged by Forlini, the Bureau of Elections identified four apparent non-citizens who are registered to vote in Michigan. The Michigan Department of State will send them a letter asking to confirm their eligibility to vote and will cancel their registration if they don’t respond. Read ‘Article

Michigan voters say signature gatherers lie about what proposals will do. Lawmakers haven’t fixed it. | Hayley Harding/Votebeat

College students across the state say they have been lied to by petition circulators, who have descended on their campuses to gather signatures in support of requiring Michigan voters to prove their citizenship. In August, Michigan State University freshman Abby Lindley was told the petition would make it easier for immigrants and transgender people to vote, she said. University of Michigan junior Aidan Rozema reported being told in September that it would make voting easier. In October, circulators told MSU freshman Hunter Moore it would expand absentee voting, he said. No law in Michigan requires circulators — often paid per signature — to tell the truth about what’s on a petition, or to show prospective signers the full text. While some states try to ensure accountability by banning per-signature pay or requiring circulators to live in-state, rules across the country are a patchwork. Read Article

Michigan: Embattled Hamtramck election official sues city amid disputed mayoral race | Hayley Harding/Votebeat

Amid a contested mayoral election marred by revelations of insecure ballots, the top election official in Hamtramck is suing several city officials, alleging they retaliated against her for trying to expose the city’s “ongoing election integrity issues.” City Clerk Rana Faraj has been on leave since Nov. 10, days after 37 ballots cast in the 2025 municipal election were initially misplaced in her office. Faraj’s lawsuit alleges that she was put on leave as a way to satisfy city officials who had a grudge against her “after being falsely accused of meddling with the election.” The lawsuit also provides more alleged details about the circumstances that led to the 37 ballots not being counted. The ballots may have been decisive in Hamtramck’s nonpartisan mayoral race, which was separated by only 11 votes after a recount last week. Rwad Article

Michigan court rules against Secretary of State’s election guidance: Mismatched mail-in ballots can’t be counted | Danielle James/mlive.com

The Michigan Court of Claims has ruled that guidance issued by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on counting absentee ballots with mismatched numbers is not valid. Ballots are typically prepared with a detachable stub at the top that has a unique identifying number. When ballots with these stubs are sent out to absentee voters, a local clerk will record the number on the stub assigned to that same voter in the qualified voter file (QVF). That number then corresponds with what is printed on the outside of the absentee ballot’s return envelope. In cases where absentee ballots are returned and the numbers don’t line up, Benson’s previous guidance to election officials was that they could process the ballots as “challenged.” The plaintiffs requested the court declare that guidance unlawful, arguing that absentee ballots should be rejected the same way that one of an in-person voter would be if there was a mismatch, or of an absentee voter whose signature could not be verified. Read Article

Michigan request tests limits on federal interference in elections | Carrie Levine/Votebeat

Earlier this month, a group of Republican state lawmakers in Michigan sent a letter asking the U.S. Justice Department to “deploy official election monitors and provide comprehensive oversight for Michigan’s 2026 primary and general elections.” Besides election monitors, which the Justice Department for years has deployed around the country to observe elections, the letter isn’t clear on what the Republican lawmakers mean by “comprehensive oversight,” or exactly what legal authority they believe would allow such an intervention. President Donald Trump and his allies have repeatedly pushed for more federal oversight of elections. In March, he issued a sweeping executive order that would overhaul the way elections are administered in many states, though federal courts have since blocked many of its provisions on the grounds that the Constitution doesn’t grant him such authority. His administration is appealing at least some of those decisions. Read Article

Michigan: Ballot custody questions complicate aftermath of Hamtramck election | Hayley Harding/Votebeat

Sometime in the hours after last week’s election in Hamtramck, officials who weren’t involved in elections walked into the city clerk’s office, a space that’s supposed to be a secure place to keep ballots. That revelation has thrown the outcome of the Michigan city’s entire election into doubt, including an exceedingly close mayoral race. A total of 37 absentee ballots were initially unaccounted for on election night but were later discovered in the clerk’s office, opened but not yet tabulated. But since those ballots were not secured and could have been accessed by others, it’s currently up in the air whether they will be included in the election’s final totals. Read Article

Michigan: Ballot custody questions complicate Hamtramck election | Hayley Harding/Votebeat

Sometime in the hours after last week’s election in Hamtramck, officials who weren’t involved in elections walked into the city clerk’s office, a space that’s supposed to be a secure place to keep ballots. That revelation has thrown the outcome of the Michigan city’s entire election into doubt, including an exceedingly close mayoral race. A total of 37 absentee ballots were initially unaccounted for on election night but were later discovered in the clerk’s office, opened but not yet tabulated. But since those ballots were not secured and could have been accessed by others, it’s currently up in the air whether they will be included in the election’s final totals. Read Article

Michigan House committee targets foreign meddling in ballot measures, election oversight | Katherine Dailey/Michigan Advance

The Michigan House Election Integrity Committee debated three bills Tuesday related to foreign interference in state elections — in funding for ballot initiatives and election administration, and in the physical parts of election machines. Testimony on both bills related to funding centered on the ability of foreign citizens to donate to 501(c)(4) organizations, nonprofits that are not required to disclose their donors — which can turn them into so-called “dark money” groups that donate to political activities without identifying where the money is coming from. Read Article

Michigan Republicans demand Benson share full voter roll with Trump administration | Hayley Harding/Votebeat

Nearly two dozen Michigan House Republicans have signed on to a resolution calling for Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to share the state’s complete voter rolls with the Trump administration, without redactions of potentially sensitive identifying information. Michigan is one of several states being sued by the U.S. Justice Department over their refusal to share unredacted voter rolls in response to requests from the agency. Benson shared some of Michigan’s voter roll — the parts accessible to any member of the public — but withheld personal identifying information, such as Social Security numbers. The GOP-backed resolution, which was debated at a hearing Tuesday in the House Election Integrity Committee, calls for the secretary of state to share an unredacted copy of Michigan’s computerized statewide voter registration list, also known as the qualified voter file, with federal officials. Read Article

Michigan: Dearborn ballot error leads to dispute with Wayne County over reprint cost | Hayley Harding/Votebeat

Taxpayers will be on the hook for reprint costs after Dearborn, Michigan, printed and mailed out thousands of ballots that listed an incorrect candidate. But it’s unclear whether paying the bill will be the responsibility of the city or Wayne County. City officials estimate that Dearborn printed about 10,000 ballots that incorrectly listed Mohammed Shegara as a candidate for City Council even though he dropped out of the race in April. Roughly 9,000 of those went out to voters, City Clerk George Darany told Votebeat. To reprint and resend corrected ballots cost about $3,600, Darany said. The postage part of that, 21.3 cents per ballot, came out of the city’s account already, but no one has been billed yet for the reprint part, which is about 15 cents a ballot. Read Article

Michigan election tampering case stalls as DePerno seeks to block texts linked to 2020 audit effort | Kyle Davidson/Michigan Advance

After the preliminary examination of former attorney general candidate Matt DePerno and former state Rep. Daire Rendon (R-Lake City) kicked off on Thursday, the review of evidence has been put on pause over a dispute on whether a series of text messages should be admitted as evidence. Rendon and DePerno, as well as attorney Stefanie Lambert Junttila, were indicted in 2023, following an investigation into potential tampering with election equipment following the 2020 election, led by Special Prosecutor D.J. Hilson. The three defendants are each accused of participating in a conspiracy to gain access to voting tabulators, where a group of information technology experts allegedly performed “testing” on the machines.

Michigan: Prosecutors begin laying out evidence in high-profile tabulator cases | Craig Mauger/The Detroit News

A voting machine company determined tabulators that were obtained and inspected by supporters of President Donald Trump after Michigan’s 2020 election had been “tampered” with and should not be reused, an executive with the company testified in court Thursday. Guy Riner, vice president of account management for Election Systems & Software, was the first witness presented by prosecutors on the opening day of preliminary examinations for Matt DePerno, the 2022 GOP nominee for attorney general, and Daire Rendon, a Republican former state representative from Lake City. DePerno and Rendon — two vocal purveyors of unproven claims of fraud in Trump’s 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden — are facing felony charges for allegedly participating in a conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to five voting machines that were transported to Oakland County for analysis by a group of so-called cybersecurity experts. Read Article

Michigan proposal could force school board candidates into partisan primary | Hayley Harding/Votebeat

A proposed bill from House Republicans would make Michigan’s school board candidates declare a party affiliation, a change that’s drawing criticism from local election officials and school board members. Under state law, school board positions are explicitly nonpartisan. House Bill 4588, introduced by Rep. Jason Woolford, would tweak the law to require candidates for local school boards to declare a party affiliation. That requirement could force the races to have primary elections in August, in addition to the November general election when school board seats are typically voted on, officials said. Read Article

Michigan: Poll worker pay can vary widely by community | Hayley Harding/Votebeat

Across the state, pay for election inspectors — the workers who check in voters and keep precincts running — can range from less than $175 a day to more than $300. That means two people doing the same job just a few miles apart might take home dramatically different paychecks. State law only requires that election officials “receive reasonable compensation,” leaving the exact amount up to local officials. But for poll workers, where they choose to do the job is almost entirely up to them. Votebeat surveyed more than 60 communities to see what clerks offer their poll workers. The results show wide gaps not only in pay but also in benefits, from free meals to same-day paychecks — and reveal how those differences shape the pool of workers each community can attract and keep. Read Article

Michigan: Pocket guides on election laws offer bridge between election officials, law enforcement | Kyle Davidson/Michigan Advance

As election officials continue to face threats, harassment and abuse, a bipartisan coalition of election experts and law enforcement officials is working to build collaboration in hopes of protecting voters, elections and their administrators from bad actors. The Committee for Safe and Secure Elections, created in 2022, is offering a number of new resources for both election officials and law enforcement officers, including pocket-sized legal guides detailing election laws in all 50 states, giving both groups an easily accessible reference should questions – or issues – arise on Election Day. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 22 states have enacted or updated laws to protect election officials and poll workers since 2020. In August, the committee released an updated version of these guides to reflect changes to election laws in states across the country. Read Article

Michigan Republican budget proposal would cut funds for local election support | Hayley Harding/Votebeat

Michigan House Republicans have put more than $10 million in state election support on the chopping block in their proposed budget for the coming fiscal year. The $10 million hit is a tiny portion of a huge budget battle that may lead to a shutdown of Michigan’s government next month. But in a state that has over 1,600 election officials and dozens of local elections scheduled for November, it represents the slashing of a critical resource. In the 2024-25 fiscal year, the Department of State’s budget was about $292 million. Proposals from the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office would both boost it to about $296.5 million, while the latest budget proposed by House Republicans would cut it down to $222.5 million. Read Article

Michigan residents sue Whitmer for failing to call special election in state Senate district | Kyle Davidson/Michigan Advance

After more than seven months without representation in the Michigan Senate, several residents of Michigan’s 35th Senate District are taking legal action against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, in hopes of compelling the governor to call a special election in the district. The suit, filed in the Michigan Court of Claims by Outside Law PLC on Sunday, was brought on behalf of seven residents from Saginaw, Midland and Bay counties. The complaint seeks a writ of mandamus from the court compelling the Democratic governor to initiate a special election for the open Senate seat. The suit is also seeking a declaratory judgment that a failure to call the special election violates the Michigan Constitution, and an injunction requiring the scheduling of a special election at the earliest practicable time. Read Article

Michigan clerk uses quiet Aug. 5 election to prep for busier ones ahead | Hayley Harding/Votebeat

On one of her two purple phones, Livonia City Clerk Lori Miller has a sticker that proudly proclaims “I 💜 Boring Elections.” And on Tuesday, that’s just what she got. Elections in her city and across the state were uneventful, a welcome gift to clerks who are bracing for a busy 2026. Miller used the primary in Livonia, a Detroit suburb in Wayne County, as an opportunity to test out some upgrades ahead of a competitive city council race in November and next year’s elections for the U.S. House and Senate, state legislative seats, governor, and other statewide offices. Read Article

Michigan: Mediation ordered in fight over election training materials | Clara Hendrickson/Detroit Free Press

A Michigan Court of Claims judge ordered mediation in the lawsuit the Michigan House filed against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson over subpoenas to obtain training materials for election administrators, the release of which Benson fears could compromise election security. Benson has provided some of the material sought by the Republican-led Michigan House Oversight Committee but has expressed concerns that some of the information requested could end up in the wrong hands. The Michigan House filed its lawsuit against Benson in June, arguing that they have a right to review the material to ensure that election officials receive proper training that complies with Michigan election law. Read Article

Michigan is consolidating election precincts. Will voters face longer lines? | Hayley Harding/Bridge Michigan

Across Michigan, thousands of voters are getting new precincts — and in some cases new polling places — as officials redraw their maps to take advantage of a new state law that allows for more consolidation of precincts. The new law, which increased the maximum size of a precinct from 2,999 to 4,999 voters, is a consequence of recent voter-approved initiatives to expand access to early and absentee voting, which Michiganders have embraced. The law went into effect early last year, and some communities put changes into effect before the 2024 general election. Others, including Livonia in Wayne County, will run their newly consolidated precincts for the first time next week during local primaries. The shift could eventually save communities a lot of money, experts say. But realizing those savings will take some time, and voters could encounter challenges as they get reassigned to renumbered precincts, different precincts, or new polling places, especially if clerks don’t equip consolidated polling sites to handle a larger pool of voters. Read Article

Michigan becomes latest target of Justice Department inquiry on voter roll maintenance | Hayley Harding/Votebeat

The U.S. Justice Department is asking Michigan for a copy of its voter rolls and information about how the state maintains them, as well as a series of questions about its high levels of voter registration. In its letter to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, dated July 21 and obtained by Votebeat, the Justice Department also said it has received a complaint about the state’s compliance with a provision in federal law requiring all voters to be assigned unique identifiers. It is the latest in a series of letters the Justice Department has sent to states about their management of voter rolls, following directives in President Donald Trump’s March executive order on elections. Read Article

Michigan: GOP election conspiracist given platform in House committee to rail against Democrats | Ben Solis/Michigan Advance

A former Republican lawmaker, gubernatorial candidate and election conspiracy theorist on Tuesday asked a Michigan House of Representatives committee to request federal investigations against three of Michigan’s top ranking Democrats, whom he has repeatedly accused of fraud and other crimes, including bribery. Pat Colbeck, who served in the Michigan Senate from 2011 to 2019 and sought the Republican nomination for governor in 2018, presented a laundry list of election integrity concerns to the House Election Integrity Committee, chaired by state Rep. Rachelle Smit (R-Martin). The three officials Colbeck asked to be investigated include Attorney General Dana Nessel, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Supreme Court Justice Kyra Harris Bolden. Nessel spokesperson Danny Wimmer, in a statement to Michigan Advance, dismissed Colbeck’s claims and accusations as “unhinged.” Read Article

Michigan clerks speak up in support of bill to preserve local authority over voting machine testing | Kyle Davidson/Michigan Advance

Election clerks from across the state spoke up before the House Election Integrity Committee last week, offering their support for a piece of legislation aimed at preserving their say in pre-election testing of voting machines. Committee Chair Rachelle Smit (R-Martin), a former election clerk, told her colleagues that for years, local clerks have successfully conducted logic and accuracy testing of their machines by working with vendors of their choosing. However, Smit raised concerns that a recent contract acquired by the Michigan Secretary of State could require clerks to use only their contracted vendor to generate test decks. “This represents a fundamental shift from our local control to state mandated centralization, a shift that raises concerns about the integrity, transparency and fiscal responsibility. The bill before us today provides very clear, common sense protections that preserve local autonomy while ensuring proper standards. Specifically it protects local choice,” Smit said. Read Article

Michigan: What Benson vs. GOP election-manual fight is really about | Hayley Harding/Votebeat

Michigan’s top election official is locked in a clamorous legal battle with Republican lawmakers over access to election training materials, a conflict that likely has less to do with policy than politics — and the coming race for governor. And if the battle continues at its current volume, voter trust in Michigan’s elections could take a beating. On one side is Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who won her 2022 re-election race by nearly 14 percentage points and is now a leading Democratic candidate for governor. Since 2019, she has been a key part of the Democratic power structure in the executive branch and the face of election oversight in a swing state that became a target of heavy scrutiny and conspiracy theories after Donald Trump’s 2020 loss. On the other side is the Michigan state House, back under Republican control since January, which has subpoenaed her, sued her, and even made moves to impeach her. Read Article

Michigan: Election oversight fight headed to court: House GOP files lawsuit against Secretary of State | Zoe Clark and Rick Pluta/Michigan Public Radio

House Republicans are putting the squeeze on Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson in their ongoing feud over election materials that brings into play legislative prerogatives versus executive authority. The newest twist is the House complaint filed this week in the Michigan Court of Claims to compel Benson to comply with a legislative subpoena. Not that this is a surprise. The level of trust between the House GOP majority and the Democratic Secretary of State hovers somewhere around non-existent. The GOP-controlled House voted along party lines last month to hold Benson in civil contempt, which cleared the way for the lawsuit alleging “irrational and even conspiratorial objections” to keep those materials from the House Oversight Committee and the House Election Integrity Committee. Read Article

Michigan House sues Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson over election training materials | Clara Hendrickson/Detroit Free Press

The Michigan House of Representatives filed a lawsuit Thursday, June 5, against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, transforming the fight between Republican lawmakers and the state’s chief elections officer over election training materials into a legal battle. House Republicans have repeatedly argued that they have a right to review the material to ensure that election officials receive proper training that complies with Michigan election law. Benson, meanwhile, has raised concerns that some of the information requested could compromise election security and fears it could end up in the wrong hands. The lawsuit comes after Republican lawmakers in the state House voted to hold Benson in contempt for withholding some election training materials requested by the House Oversight Committee, which subpoenaed Benson and the Michigan Department of State. Read Article

Michigan: Common Cause: GOP-led citizenship requirement may upend voting protections | Ben Solis/Michigan Advance

Michigan has been fortunate to have few recent attacks on voting rights from the state Legislature, but a House Republican-led initiative calling for proof of citizenship to vote could curtail newly adopted constitutional protections, Common Cause Michigan said Thursday. The assessment of Michigan’s voter protections came during a virtual press call hosted by the national branch of Common Cause, which featured updates on legislative voting rights attacks in Florida, North Carolina, Michigan and Texas. Quentin Turner, executive director of Common Cause Michigan, said the fundamental right to vote in Michigan is mostly secure thanks to constitutional protections passed by voters in recent years. Those protections, however, could be at risk with House Republicans pushing for a constitutional amendment requiring proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. Read Article

Michigan GOP lawmakers lose U.S. Supreme Court bid to void election laws | Hayley Harding/Votebeat

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away a petition by 11 Republican Michigan legislators who sought to overturn expanded voting measures enacted through statewide ballot initiatives, bringing an end to the federal case known as Lindsey v. Whitmer. The federal case was always a longshot, experts told Votebeat when it was first brought before the Supreme Court, which hears only about 150 of the thousands of requests it gets each year. The justices denied the lawmakers’ petition without comment. But their attorney, conservative legal activist Erick Kaardal, told lawmakers that he’s not done trying to challenge the election measures, which include no-reason absentee voting, and straight-party voting, passed as part of 2018’s Proposal 3, as well as early voting and ballot drop boxes from Proposal 2 in 2022. Read article

Michigan Department of State says subpoenas for election training materials violate the law | Anna Liz Nichols/Michigan Advance

In response to Michigan House Republicans issuing subpoenas for copies of election-related training materials, the Michigan Department of State is asking lawmakers to narrow their request in the interest of election security. Members of the Republican-led House Oversight Committee issued subpoenas last month ordering Democrat Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to turn over educational and training documents used in preparing clerks and poll workers to oversee elections, which Benson’s office said Wednesday would be a violation of the law. The subpoena is the latest maneuver in a months-long effort by House Republicans to obtain copies of training materials, beginning with Rep. Rachelle Smit (R-Martin) requesting them late last year, before she became chair of the House Election Integrity Committee. Read Article