St. Clair Today

In the midst of a contested election and frequent calls for more transparency in the vote-tallying process, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has issued a statement on what her office plans to do to instill confidence in the results for voters around the state and onlookers from around the country, according to Michigan.gov.

In response to calls for an audit, Benson has stated that Michigan is on track to "perform a statewide risk-limiting audit of November’s general election." Benson also says that her office has been prepared for challenges such as these for months, enabling them to quickly perform an accurate and fair audit of the results of the November election.

About the process, Benson said, "The statewide risk-limiting audit will be accompanied by the routine local procedural audits that will review the accuracy and process of elections in local communities, as have been carried out following the November 2019 election and May 2020 elections. And as always, under state law, our department conducts these audits after the Board of State Canvassers has certified the election. This is because it is only after statewide certification that election officials have legal access to the documentation needed to conduct such audits," according to Michigan.gov.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson | Wikimedia Commons

And in response to concerns raised about irregularities, she also added, "Notably, audits are neither designed to address nor performed in response to false or mythical allegations of 'irregularities' that have no basis in fact. Where evidence exists of actual fraud or wrongdoing, it should be submitted in writing to the Bureau of Elections, which refers all credible allegations to the attorney general’s office for further investigation."