Michigan Election Audit Confirms Accuracy, Benson Says

LANSING, MI — More than 250 audits of Michigan's November 2020 General Election found that workers counted ballots accurately, according to Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.

Benson said that the audit process drew support and transparency from county, city and township clerks. More than 1,300 Republican, Democrat and nonpartisan clerks, as well as the state Bureau of Elections, participated in at least one audit, according to Benson's office.

“Over the last several months, the state Bureau of Elections has worked with local clerks to conduct more audits than ever before in our state’s history, and each has reaffirmed the accuracy, security and integrity of the November 2020 election,” Benson said. “We’ve responded to every question and claim and the evidence is clear. It is time for leaders across the political spectrum to tell their constituents the truth, that our election was the most secure in history, and the results accurately reflect the will of Michigan’s voters.”

Related: Michigan Board Of Canvassers Certifies 2020 Election Results

Officials also audited every ballot cast for president in Antrim County, Benson's office said, finding that the Dominion machines used there accurately counted ballots. Claims against Dominion around the nation have been unfounded, according to multiple reports.

Benson's office previously said that more than 18,000 ballots were randomly selected from across the state in a hand-counting audit that affirmed that President Joe Biden had won the presidential election in Michigan.

An audit of Detroit's absentee ballot counting board found that clerical errors had occurred, but Benson said election workers supervised by the clerk's office properly counted 174,000 ballots that corresponded to signed envelopes submitted by registered voters and reviewed by the clerk's office.

Auditors found that 83 percent of the counting boards were balanced, up from 27 percent at the close of the county canvass, Benson's office said, meaning that in each of those boards the number of ballots matched the number of names in the poll book, or that the imbalance could be explained.

The net number of ballots out of balance for the entire board was 17 out of the 174,000 absentee ballots counted in Detroit, according to Benson's office.

Auditors made similar findings in audits of other cities’ absentee ballot counting boards, including Grand Rapids, Livonia and Sterling Heights, Benson's office said.

Benson reiterated her belief that more time should be provided to clerks to process absentee ballots and has called for legislation that would allow them two additional weeks to process ballots.

She also proposed changing the law that prevents precincts that are out of balance without explanation from being recounted, noting that Michigan is one of the only states in the country with such a restriction in place.

“If state lawmakers truly want to affirm faith in our elections, they will provide more time to election officials to process absentee ballots before Election Day, and canvass them afterwards, just as I’ve proposed in my legislative agenda to advance the vote and protect democracy,” Benson said. “Had they done this prior to November, after clerks and I asked them to for more than a year, they could have pre-emptively debunked many of the lies that have since attacked our democracy.”