Michigan’s secure voting systems

How the Great Lakes State protects election integrity

By: Mikaila Bluew

Who makes Michigan elections safe and possible?

Michigan elections are run at the local level, every township or city has its own employees and election office that verifies Michigan elections are run securely. The officials on the local level include:

A Clerk – The local clerk administers federal, state, and local elections, and maintains voter registrations records.
A local Election Commission – Composed of the local clerk and two officials, they establish voting precincts, evaluate voting equipment, provide supplies, and appoint inspectors.

Michigan is comprised of 83 counties statewide and within each county there is:

A Board of County Canvassers – A bipartisan entity, each board includes 2 Republicans and 2 Democrats serving on it. They finalize the count of votes cast in each county, then certify the elections on the county level. Regularly, the board must inspect ballot boxes to ensure they are secure.
A County Clerk – Receive petitions for district and county wide elected offices, accept finance disclosure reports of local candidate campaigns, and coordinate administration of county school district elections.
A County Election Commission – Comprised of the county clerk, the county’s chief judge of probate, and the county treasurer. The commission provides certain election supplies, ballots among them, and works to create clear wording on recall petitions.

Photo by Arnaud Jaegers on Unsplash

The following entities and individuals help oversee elections at the state level in Michigan:

The Michigan Secretary of State – Considered the “chief election officer” the secretary of state has supervisory control over local officials.
The Board of State Canvassers – Comprised of two Republican and two Democratic members. They decide ballot wording, approve voting equipment for use in the state, and certify results of the statewide elections.
The Department of State’s Bureau of Elections – This bureau is run by the State Elections Director, providing instructional programming on elections, assisting local election officials in their job, and overseeing the operation of Michigan’s Qualified Voter File (QVF).

Michigan elections in past years have had over 35,000 volunteer poll workers, these workers are trained to ensure that election day runs smoothly for Michigan residents. According to electionfactsmi.com you must meet this criteria to qualify for the roll of election inspector:

Be a U.S Citizen
Be at least 16 years old
Be a registered voter in Michigan, unless you are under 18, then you must be a resident of Michigan.
Be free of felonies or convictions surrounding election crimes
Not be serving as an election challenger with a political party
Not be a candidate or immediate family of a candidate
Not be a member of the local board of canvassers

For more information on election officials or qualifications visit electionfactsmi.com.

How are Michigan ballots secured?

Michigan has adopted and continues to adapt to the “national best-practices” to strengthen the election systems and ensure elections are safe, accurate, and secure. Michigan.gov highlights the practices put in place to maintain election security in Michigan:

Utilized best-practice voting technology – All voting machines are industry standard optical scan machines, paper ballots and printed voter tallies can be recounted and reviewed, voting machines may not be connected to the internet during ballot tabulation, and there is no evidence voting machines in Michigan have ever been compromised.
Improved Qualified Voter File system (QVF) – Efficiently and effectively maintains the state’s registered voter list, includes multi-factor identification, the system is continuously monitored and protected, and allows for automatic voter registration for citizens that apply for ID and driver’s licenses.
Joined Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) – Uses sophisticated and secure data-matching technology to safeguard the integrity of voter files, this allows Michigan to red flag deceased voters, duplicate voter registration accounts, voters who have moved, and eligible voters that have not yet registered to vote.
Expanded risk-limiting post-election audits – A preeminent method for confirming election results using statistical methods to perform a comprehensive check on the accuracy of reported election results to detect anomalies using a mathematical formula to confirm tabulators have tallied ballots correctly.
Hired full-time election security – The specialists working on a state and federal level are trained in election security best-practices.
Improved cooperation among local, state, and federal governments – Michigan collaborates with the Department of Homeland Security and other organizations to test system vulnerabilities and conduct county-by-county election assessments.
Continued long-standing integrity and accuracy practices – Michigan’s decentralized election system contains errors to a local level. This system is managed by over 1,500 local clerks, includes a thorough canvassing process, public testing of voting machines, open precinct observations, and performance audits to ensure election integrity.