Republican Introduces Bill For So-Called ‘Forensic Audit' Of 2020 General Election Results

By Julia Forrest, the Michigan Advance

After Republican activists rallied last week calling for a so-called “forensic audit” of the 2020 election results in Michigan, state Rep. Steve Carra (R-St. Joseph) introduced a bill on Tuesday to create a bipartisan audit board to conduct one.

President Joe Biden won Michigan by more than 154,000 votes against former President Donald Trump.

More than 250 election audits were completed by Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and local election clerks by March. All of the audits found no evidence of fraud or concern about the security of the state’s election.

Election audits are the latest push by GOP activists and Trump supporters to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in key battleground states.

HB 5091 would create a bipartisan audit board tasked with conducting a forensic audit of the 2020 general election. The board would consist of seven members, a state auditor general or an auditor general’s designee; one each appointed by GOP and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate; and one election challenger from each side of the aisle.

The bill would enable the audit board to review additions, revisions, and deletions in the Qualified Voter File to “maintain accurate, up-to-date voter rolls”. The audit board would also randomly select 20% of precincts from cities with populations over 500,000 and 10% of precincts from other counties to analyze poll books, ballots and vote tallies of the 2020 general election. The audit will also review the secretary of state’s procedures after mailing out unsolicited absentee ballot applications.

GOP activists call for ‘forensic audit’ of Michigan 2020 presidential election

In order to maintain transparency, the entire audit process will be recorded.

In a statement announcing the bill, Carra discussed that the purpose of the audit board would be to ensure “secure elections that the voters can trust.”

“Transparency is an important responsibility of the Michigan Legislature,” Carra said. “As the people’s elected representatives responsible for setting election laws for our state, we have a duty to ensure that our elections are conducted properly, and a forensic audit will help us move forward together.”

Carra attended a Jan. 6 pro-President Trump rally at the state Capitol along with 700 others who were there to protest the count of the Electoral College at the U.S. Capitol certifying Joe Biden’s win. That was the same day of the violent pro-Trump insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

Trump wanted Supreme Court to order new election in Arizona, Michigan and other states

Carra also participated in a protest outside of the Pfizer building in Portage while Biden was touring the facility.

He has announced he is challenging U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) in 2022. Upton voted to impeach Trump in January for inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection, angering many GOP activists.

The introduction of the bill also comes as GOP activists delivered more than 7,000 signed affidavits to Republican leaders last week demanding that a “forensic audit” of the election be conducted. Michigan GOP Co-Chair Meshawn Maddock was among them.

Last week, documents were obtained from the U.S. House Oversight Committee that showed former President Trump wanted his Justice Department to request that the Supreme Court order six states to conduct audits of their election results under the direction of court-appointed special masters. The document also showed Trump wanted his Justice Department to request that SCOTUS order the states to hold new presidential elections and bar them from casting their electoral votes for President-elect Joe Biden.

In Arizona, the Republican-led Senate requested an audit of Maricopa County’s 2020 general election ballots. No evidence has been found to indicate tampering or fraud in the large Arizona county.

The Michigan Advance, a hard-hitting, nonprofit news site, covers politics and policy across the state of Michigan through in-depth stories, blog posts, and social media updates, as well as top-notch progressive commentary. The Advance is part of States Newsroom, a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit supported by grants and a coalition of donors and readers.