Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson spoke Wednesday about election security, emphasizing the several layers of protections ensuring votes are counted correctly.
Absentee ballots and early votes are able to be counted in the days before election day, but those figures aren’t made public until polls close. Absentee counting and election day voting are also subject to viewing by bipartisan challengers.
The unofficial counts go through multiple layers of local and state authorities, including city and township clerks, county clerks, county boards of canvassers and the State Board of Canvassers.
“Each of the decisions that are made, the most contentious decisions where there is an issue as to a ballot, remember, you have both a Democrat and a Republican that’s reviewing that ballot to make a decision, wherever there’s a point of controversy during that process,” Nessel said.
Plus, the state uses watermarked, paper ballots, providing a physical record of all votes cast should a recount or investigation take place.
“If you have more ballots than voters, it’s easy to identify, and those cases are taken very seriously,” Nessel said.
Nessel says that only one documented instance of a non-citizen voting has taken place in Michigan since 2019, and emphasized that the state’s decentralized election system involving over 1,600 clerks across the state is heavily resistant to tampering.
“All of us just want one thing, one thing only, and that is to see the will of the people prevail, whatever that is, and it is not up to any of us to make the decision as to who wins or loses an election,” she said.
Benson unveiled a new voting data dashboard that will be updated daily with information on absentee ballot returns and early votes. That dashboard can be found here.
According to the dashboard, over 780,000 ballots have been returned statewide, out of 2.1 million requested.
“Placing numbers in context of the laws and procedures that govern our elections — understanding is one of the most important tools to fighting misinformation,” Benson said.
She encouraged voters with concerns about pre-election day ballots to visit the website, which breaks down data to the precinct level. Voters can also track their own absentee ballot and receive notifications from the state.
“Making those official sources of information more accessible, user friendly and easier to understand, will make them more useful to all of our citizens,” she said.
Early voting begins around the state on Oct. 26, though communities can choose to begin sooner. More information on voting options can be found with the Secretary of State’s office.