Elections in Michigan in 2020
WERE SECURE.
Was there fraud in the 2020 election?
More than 250 election audits conducted with bipartisan participation confirmed the integrity and accuracy of Michigan’s 2020 general election. More than 60 court cases and investigations by Michigan Republicans have found no evidence of fraud that would affect the outcome of the 2020 election. Donald Trump’s Attorney General, Bill Barr, and Trump’s Department of Justice investigated and found no evidence of widespread fraud. Ivanka Trump testified that she believed there was no widespread election fraud. No claims of substantial election fraud have survived legal scrutiny, and many were dismissed as meritless by Trump-appointed judges.
Are voting machines secure? Can they be hacked through the internet?
Michigan municipalities select their own voting systems, which are all certified by the federal government. The state further certifies them to operate in compliance with state law. These voting systems are not connected to the internet or other networks, and are subjected to regular logic and accuracy tests, as required by state law. Recently, Michigan Senate Republicans conducted a thorough review and found no evidence that Dominion voting systems had been hacked. Counties regularly invest their federal elections funding into upgrading the cyber and physical security of their election systems and voting facilities.
How do election officials in MI prevent counting ballots of dead people?
Michigan law requires election officials to regularly update voter registration records, including daily checks in the two weeks ahead of an August or November election, to identify and remove people who have died from the voter rolls. Votes cast by people who vote early but then die before Election Day are not counted.
According to the Michigan Senate Oversight Committee Report on the 2020 election, “the secretary of state and clerks were able to discover and remove approximately 3,500 absentee ballots submitted by voters while they were alive but died before Election Day, which is a commendable accomplishment.” Michigan’s Auditor General, who was appointed by the Republican legislature, confirmed that dead voters had no impact on the 2020 election.
Are mail-in ballots vulnerable to fraud? Are they sent to people who don’t ask for them?
Registered voters must apply for and be verified by local election officials before they receive a mail-in ballot. Mail-in ballots are not sent to voters in Michigan unless the voter requests to receive a mail-in ballot.
Anyone who requested a mail ballot cannot vote in person unless specific requirements are met. A voter can bring their absentee ballot to the polling place and either vote with that ballot or surrender it to election workers and proceed to vote a regular ballot. If the voter does not bring their absentee ballot to the polling place, the voter will only be permitted to vote if the local clerk verifies that they have not received the ballot, and the voter signs an affidavit affirming they will not vote using that absentee ballot. This process ensures that every voter is only able to vote once.
The Republican-controlled Michigan Senate Oversight Committee stated that no evidence was presented to the Committee supporting the claim that mail ballots were sent unsolicited in 2020.
You can track your ballot online.
Are ballot drop boxes secure for voting? Have they been misused?
Township and city election clerks have accepted absentee ballots in drop boxes for many years. The Republican-led state legislature codified the use of drop boxes in 2022 with bipartisan support. They passed legislation that affirmed and standardized the security of drop boxes across the state.
Drop boxes must be clearly labeled and securely locked. Local officials must put each drop box in a public, well-lit area with good visibility. Only a city or township clerk or their staff is authorized to collect the ballots from the drop box. A Michigan Senate Republican investigation and numerous fact checks have found no evidence of fraud with drop boxes.
Has Anyone Addressed Concerns Raised About the Administration of the 2020 Election?
Fox News, Salem Media, Newsmax, and 2000 Mules creator Dinesh D’Souza all retracted or acknowledged their false claims around fraud in the 2020 election in the face of legal consequences. Lawsuits against other public figures, including Rudy Giuliani and Mike Lindell, exposed that their claims about purported fraud in the 2020 election were also false.
In Dominion Voting System’s defamation case over Fox News, Fox News acknowledged their repeated claims that Dominion rigged the 2020 presidential election were false and without any evidence. Fox News executives and hosts knew these claims were false and repeated them. Tucker Carlson, then Fox News anchor, texted his producer that the claims were “absurd” and “shockingly reckless.”. Fox host Maria Bartiromo called an email from Trump attorney Sidney Powell “kooky.” Host Sean Hannity said that Rudy Giuliani, former Trump attorney and now disbarred lawyer due to his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, was “acting like an insane person.” Fox News reportedly paid $787.5 million to settle the suit.
In Smartmatic’s defamation suit against Newsmax for allegations of “rigging” the 2020 presidential election, Newsmax released a statement saying there is “no evidence” of this allegation and that election results were not altered or manipulated. Newsmax settled the case for an undisclosed amount.
In response to the defamation case against the Salem Media Group, Dinesh D’Souza, and True the Vote for false claims about ballot “mules” in the movie 2000 Mules, the Salem Media Group released a statement apologizing to the man portrayed as a ballot mule and removed the film from their platforms. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation cleared the man of any illegal voting activity in the 2020 presidential election in May of 2022. Dinesh D’Souza, the film’s creator, apologized to the man and admitted that the film used false data.