3 Key Findings From Republican-Led Election Probe

LANSING, MI — A Michigan Senate Committee released a 55-page report Wednesday morning, revealing its findings from a months-long investigation into claims of election fraud in the November 2020 general election.

President Joe Biden defeated former President Donald Trump in Michigan, winning the state by more than 154,000 votes. But that conclusion has been questioned by Trump and many of his followers, a list that includes some Michigan Republicans.

Despite that, the general finding from the report — which was put together by a Republican-led committee — was that those claims are false, and no hard evidence of fraud exists.

Related: Report Finds 'No Evidence' Of Fraud In MI November 2020 Election

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

13 Allegations

The committee reviewed testimony from nearly 100 people, reviewed election documents and conducted interviews. The focus of the report? A list of 13 issues and allegations that came up or were promoted by pro-Trump officials.

The allegations included dead people and non-residents voting; unsolicited absentee voter ballots; that poll watchers were unlawfully restricted; and questionable claims about election results in Antrim County.

The report goes over each allegation in detail, with the majority of conclusions being that there was no evidence of fraud related to the issue.

Recommendations by the Commission

While no evidence of fraud was specifically found, the committee did recommend a series of changes to ensure that continues to be the case.

One suggestion was that Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who sent absentee ballot applications to residents, not do so going forward, as "this demonstrates a clear vulnerability for fraud that may be undetected, if the actual voter does not vote at all," the committee said.

"If the actual voter does vote, it will create turmoil and draw attention from state and local officials," the report continues. "However, the lack of any such incidents or turmoil in the November 2020 election creates a clear probability that no such efforts were committed to any significant extent. The chance of encountering the attempted double vote scenario is so statistically unlikely as to make impossible even a small effort to do so."

Another recommendation was that election workers in Wayne County ensure the Wayne County Republican Party and officials in the county and city clerks’ offices to work together to obtain the correct number of workers for each election after there were claims Republican poll challengers weren't permitted around where votes were tallied.

Related: Detroit Election Workers Describe 'Aggressive' Poll Challengers

Other recommendations put forth in the report include:

• Require video security on all drop boxes and require all drop boxes be emptied and secured immediately or earlier than 8 p.m. on Election Day to help expedite the processing and tabulation of ballots
• Allow for the continued pre-processing of absentee ballots the day before Election Day, so long as stringent security measures are kept in place
• Allow for bipartisan election inspectors for all audits and require the process be open to the public

In Conclusion? No Fraud, But 'Real Vulnerabilities'

The report concluded by finding that there was no real evidence of election fraud, but there were "real vulnerabilities" in the state's election process.

"The Committee can confidently assert that it has been thorough in examination of numerous allegations of unlawful actions, improper procedures, fraud, vote theft, or any other description which would cause citizens to doubt the integrity of Michigan’s 2020 election results," the committee said in the conclusion of the report. "Our clear finding is that citizens should be confident the results represent the true results of the ballots cast by the people of Michigan."

The report goes on to submit that Michiganders should be critical of those who have "pushed demonstrably false theories for their own personal gain," while noting some issues in the election process.

"We also conclude citizens should demand reasonable updates and reforms to close real vulnerabilities and unlawful activities that caused much of the doubt and questionability to flourish and could, if unchecked, be responsible for serious and disastrous fraud or confusion in the future," the committee said.