State Officials: No Fraud in Michigan Elections

“It was an election in Michigan that was conducted fair and square,” says Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette.

Jake Neher/WDET

State officials say any federal investigation will not turn up widespread vote fraud in Michigan, despite unsubstantiated accusations by President Trump that millions of people voted illegally across the country.

President Trump says illegal voting kept him from winning the popular vote, but there’s no evidence of that. State officials – who are also Republicans – say that’s certainly not true in Michigan.

Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, the state’s top elections official, says Michigan has done a very good job of clearing people who have died or moved from its voter files. 

“If you want elections to have integrity, you have to clean up the qualified voter file, which we have done,” she said.

Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette agrees there’s no evidence of any widespread voter fraud in the 2016 election. 

“It was an election in Michigan that was conducted fair and square,” he said.

Schuette says the partial recount of votes confirmed that.

Johnson says the recount revealed problems with training, practices, and equipment, but not people voting illegally.

But she says there is more that can be done. Johnson says Michigan is part of a 26-state consortium that shares voter registration information. She says the federal government should order every state to join.

“The Congress has to pass that law,” she said. “You never should be registered in more than one state.” 

Johnson says she also wants to expand post-election audits of results to better ensure that elections are fair and accurate.

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