What Security Measures Does Michigan Take To
protect ballots?
Michigan follows national best practices to strengthen its voting system and ensure that every MI election is accurate and secure.
After a careful examination of Michigan elections processes, particularly those used in the 2020 General Election, the Republican Chair of the Michigan Senate Oversight Committee confirmed that the committee’s “clear finding is that citizens should be confident the results represent the true results of the ballots cast by the people of Michigan.”
Secure Machines
Michigan only uses approved, certified voting machines. These machines are publicly tested and maintained routinely ahead of each election in order to ensure they will provide accurate results.
No. There has been no evidence presented that voting machine tampering has affected the results of any election in Michigan.
Michigan always conducts routine testing and maintenance on its voting machines.
There was a small but notable attempt to try and interfere with Michigan’s voting machines after the 2020 election.
Certain individuals affiliated with Donald Trump’s 2020 presidential campaign are alleged to have tampered with five Michigan voting machines in the days and weeks after the 2020 election. They are alleged to have illegally removed these voting machines and taken them to a hotel room. These individuals have been indicted because they are alleged to have illegally “orchestrated a coordinated plan to gain access to voting tabulators.”
Some of the alleged voting machine tamperers are scheduled to go to trial in the summer or fall of 2024. The machines at issue in these tampering incidents have been replaced.
Chain-of-Custody
Ballots in Michigan are subject to “chain-of-custody” requirements, which means that nonpartisan election officials are legally required to monitor and track every ballot – no matter how it was cast – through each stage of the process.
Local election clerks and their staff regularly collect absentee ballots from secure drop boxes and securely transfer them to the clerk’s office. Completed absentee ballots mailed by voters to the clerk’s office are securely stored until they are processed and tabulated. The ballot containers that store absentee ballots are approved by a bipartisan county election commission. The ballots will stay in storage until the day before the election or Election Day.
Ballots cast in person early or on Election Day are sealed in ballot bags and transferred by an election worker to the local clerk’s office. The paper ballots are then stored in secure ballot containers and only opened in case of a recount or precinct inspection.
Completed absentee ballots returned to the clerk’s office are securely stored until they are processed and tabulated. The ballot containers that store absentee ballots are approved by a bipartisan county election commission.
