A new and detailed report from the state Senate Oversight Committee, led by the GOP and state Sen. Edward McBroom, “found no evidence of widespread or systematic fraud in Michigan’s prosecution of the 2020 election”:
Detailed GOP-led investigation in Michigan finds no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. Suggests many of the claims were made for personal gain. https://t.co/fgMtiK9bct
— AG (@AGHamilton29) June 23, 2021
Full report here:
You can read the full 35 page report from the GOP-led Michigan Senate Oversight committee here. They go through it claim by claim: https://t.co/XjQESGgua3
— AG (@AGHamilton29) June 23, 2021
The report concluded that “. . .citizens should be confident the results represent the true results of the ballots cast by the people of Michigan”:
Michigan Senate Oversight report on the Nov. 3 election: "Citizens should be confident the results represent the true results of the ballots cast by the people of Michigan." https://t.co/TqFofVBNnW
— Clara Hendrickson (@clarajanehen) June 23, 2021
From the report:
Conclusion
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. 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 Committee strongly recommends citizens use a critical eye and ear toward those who have pushed demonstrably false theories for their own personal gain. 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.
Further, we commend the innumerable clerks, canvassers, staff, workers, and volunteers across Michigan that make the enormous complexity of elections operate so smoothly, so often. The complexity of the work and the dedication we discovered are astounding and worthy of our sincerest appreciation. We also commend the diligent citizens that took time to report problems and concerns they saw because they want and value fair and free elections above party or personal gain. If all citizens remain vigilant and involved, we will emerge stronger after any challenging time.
But they did make a series of recommendations on how elections should be conducted in the future:
Recommendations
§ Place in statute the rights and duties of challengers and poll watchers, requiring they be uniformly trained and held accountable.
§ Ensuring combined AVCBs can have more than one challenger per party, with the ability to replace challengers who exit the AVCB location after the sequester is lifted.
§ Allow for bipartisan election inspectors for all audits and require the process be open to the public. § Prohibit the unsolicited mailing of absentee voter ballot applications from the secretary of state to limit the potential for non-Michigan residents voting in elections.
§ Establish signature verification requirements via the administrative rules process or statute in order to provide clarity and uniformity to election workers on the proper way to ensure signatures match.
§ 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.
§ In order to ensure more accurate voter rolls, allow county clerks greater authority when removing deceased individuals from the Qualified Voter File.
§ Allow for the continued pre-processing of absentee ballots the day before Election Day, so long as stringent security measures are kept in place. Pre-processing must occur on the site of tabulation.
§ Consider allowing tabulation, which is more secure, to begin in the week preceding Election Day as long as results may not be released until polls are closed on the completion of Election Day.
§ Require that best practices for maintaining a balanced precinct on Election Day be part of the necessary training for all precinct workers. Establish a public, published record of all clerks who fail to provide the appropriate training or continuing education to themselves or their employees.
§ Reform the canvassing processes by requiring canvassers be present during the canvass activities, expanding certain county boards where population requires it, and provide for additional time for the process to be completed.
“All Republican members of the Oversight Committee voted to formally adopt the report Wednesday.”:
All Republican members of the Oversight Committee voted to formally adopt the report Wednesday. Only Dem. Sen. Jeff Irwin voted against.
— Clara Hendrickson (@clarajanehen) June 23, 2021
But McBroom did say he’s monitoring how the audit in Maricopa County, Arizona is going:
Sen. Ed McBroom who led the investigation into the 2020 election leaves the door open for an audit in Michigan.
While he says recent calls for an audit are not justified b/c they're based on Antrim County misinformation, he says he's "keeping a close eye" on Maricopa audit.
— Clara Hendrickson (@clarajanehen) June 23, 2021
"If genuine issues are shown in Arizona’s audit or from continued investigation here, I will not hesitate to ask the Committee to consider recommending an audit or amending this report," McBroom writes in his letter at the beginning of the report.
— Clara Hendrickson (@clarajanehen) June 23, 2021
The report also called “low voter turnout” a “threat to our democracy we should not take lightly”:
The report identifies low voter turnout as a problem: "Lowered confidence in our election system, and thereby lower turnout, is a threat to our democracy we should not take lightly."
— Clara Hendrickson (@clarajanehen) June 23, 2021
The 2020 election in Michigan saw record turnout.
"Still, around 40% of the eligible population did not cast a vote. For a robust democracy, we must invest in and build a system that can withstand ever greater turnout in future elections," the report reads.
— Clara Hendrickson (@clarajanehen) June 23, 2021
Of note, the recommendation to start counting absentee ballots early is not in “any of the GOP election bills”:
Interesting recommendation in the report that isn't in any of the GOP election bills: "Consider allowing tabulation… to begin in the week preceding Election Day."
Currently, election officials cannot count a single absentee ballot until election day.
— Clara Hendrickson (@clarajanehen) June 23, 2021
The prohibition on counting absentee ballots until Election Day led to unofficial results being unavailable on election night, particularly in large, Democratic-leaning cities. The delay in results reporting opened the door to misinformation.
— Clara Hendrickson (@clarajanehen) June 23, 2021
And the report called on the state to investigate people pushing “misleading and false claims about Antrim County to raise money or publicity for their own ends”:
The report calls on AG to investigate those "utilizing misleading and false information about Antrim County to raise money or publicity for their own ends.”
AG spox said "We will review the report in its entirety in order to determine if a criminal investigation is appropriate."
— Clara Hendrickson (@clarajanehen) June 23, 2021
Circling back to a tweet above, Cyber Ninjas, the company doing the Arizona audit, was responsible for providing “analysis to support the fraud allegation leveled in an Antrim County lawsuit,” so we’re not sure how serious McBroom is about actually following what’s going on in Maricopa County:
Republicans in the Arizona Senate hired Cyber Ninjas to carry out the audit. Cyber Ninjas provided analysis to support the fraud allegations leveled in an Antrim County lawsuit and the firm's CEO has promoted election fraud claims.
— Clara Hendrickson (@clarajanehen) June 23, 2021
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