Tag: Michigan Secretary of State

Non-Citizen Allegedly Cast Ballot in Michigan, Faces Criminal Charges

Just the News
Voting Stickers

A non-citizen allegedly cast a ballot in Michigan and is facing criminal charges, according to the Michigan secretary of state’s office.

The non-citizen allegedly registered to vote and cast a ballot at an Ann Arbor early voting site on Sunday, per a joint statement from the Washtenaw County prosecutor’s office and the Michigan secretary of state’s office. The alleged non-citizen voter faces charges of Unauthorized Elector Attempting To Vote and Perjury – Making a False Affidavit for Purpose of Securing Voter Registration.

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Michigan Secretary of State Announces ‘Panic Button’ for Poll Workers Ahead of Election

Just the News
Election Day

Michigan Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson this week announced that the state would implement a “panic button” system for the November election permitting election officials to quickly alert law enforcement in the event of a threat.

“I don’t believe this is announced yet, but we will be rolling out a panic button type of communication for every election worker if clerks work with us, to implement it in their particular voting location to be able to text if something occurs,” Benson said Monday.

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Republicans Win Major Election Integrity Ruling Against Michigan Secretary of State

Just the News

The Republican Party has won an election integrity lawsuit against Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson over restrictions she imposed on poll challengers.

Benson, per the Republican National Committee, had imposed restrictions on poll challengers, including a new credential form, an “artificial deadline” for appointing them, and limiting the poll workers with whom the challengers may communicate.

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Michigan Supreme Court Nixes Secretary of State Benson’s Redistricting Extension Request

The Center Square

The Michigan Supreme Court denied a request from Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission to grant an extension for redrawing the state’s district map.

Benson and the ICRC filed a Petition for Relief with the Court in April, asking the Court to recognize the ICRC’s constitutionally imposed deadline as “unrealistic.” The petition argued the new timeline would ensure the Bureau of Elections had sufficient time to update the state’s voter registration database with the new district lines. Additionally, they argued, local clerks would be able to create and provide every voter with a correct ballot.

The extension was requested because of the six-month delay of 2020 U.S. Census data due to the coronavirus pandemic, which, it anticipated, would precipitate lawsuits. U.S. Census data is scheduled to become available Oct. 1. The ICRC was seeking to move its deadline from mid-September to Dec. 11, which would push back approval of final district maps to Jan. 25, 2022. The deadline for the filing of candidates for the November 2022 election is April 15.

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Bill Aims to Stop Sale of Michigan Secretary of State Appointments

The Center Square

A bill introduced to the Michigan Legislature aims to stop the black-market sale of Secretary of State (SOS) appointments.

When SOS Jocelyn Benson in May said the state would permanently end walk-in service, arguing the walk-in system was inefficient, the announcement sparked a black market of Michiganders so desperate for an appointment some chose to pay for an otherwise free service.

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Michigan Republican Secretary of State Candidate Observes Arizona Election Audit

Peter D'Abrosca
Kristina Karamo

A Republican candidate for Secretary of State traveled to Arizona, where a high-profile audit of the 2020 general election results is taking place.

“Kristina Karamo, candidate to be Michigan’s next Secretary of State, is the only person from Michigan to make the trip to Maricopa County, AZ to see first-hand how Arizona’s audit of the 2020 election is being conducted,” a Karamo press release said.

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Another Election Computer Glitch in Michigan Reversed as Republican Declared Belated Winner

Admin

A Michigan Republican received a welcome shock when his apparent loss at the polls was reversed due to the fix of a “technical glitch” that originally had him losing the election.

Adam Kochenderfer was originally declared the loser in his race against Democrat Melanie Hartman for a position on the Oakland County Board of Commissioners. The narrow race appeared to end with Hartman the winner by just 104 votes.

Yet the county clerk soon discovered that a set of absentee ballots had actually been reported in the voter totals twice. Once the duplicate set was removed, Kochenderfer came out ahead by 1,127 votes.

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Software that Incorrectly Awarded Biden Thousands of Michigan Votes Is Used in Dozens of Other States

Admin

Election software that incorrectly awarded thousands of votes to Joe Biden in Michigan is used in a majority of U.S. states, including statewide in Georgia where it has reportedly been implicated in several voting-related “glitches” there.

The Michigan Secretary of State confirmed on Friday that a software error in Antrim County, Michigan, in which Joe Biden was incorrectly awarded thousands of votes that led him to be declared the county winner, was caused by an error in which the county clerk “did not update the software used to collect voting machine data and report unofficial results.” The software is administered by the company Dominion Voting Systems.

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Michigan Secretary of State Spokesperson: Post Alleging 118-Year-Old Man Who Voted by Absentee Ballot Was Probably Just a Mistyped Entry

Corinne Murdock

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s spokesperson stated that a viral post alleging that a 118-year-old man voted was true, but was probably due to a mistyped entry. Fact-checkers said that they discovered another individual with the same name in the area.

The post featured a screen recording: an individual typed in “William Bradley” into the state’s voter information page, followed by a birth date and zip code. Immediately, the search returned with Bradley’s city clerk information as well as a confirmation that an absentee ballot had been received.

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Michigan’s Top Elections Official Says That Results Won’t Be Available November 3

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Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said Sunday that it could take up to a week to count all of Michigan’s absentee ballots for November’s election.

“We should be prepared for this to be closer to an election week, as opposed to an Election Day,” she said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “The bottom line is we are not going to have the full results and a counting of all of our ballots on election night.”

Benson said that Michigan’s election officials were “laser-focused” on ensuring that all ballots are counted accurately, and referenced how her office had purchased more voting tabulators in order to ensure that the influx of absentee ballots could be counted as efficiently as possible.

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Michigan and Ohio Secretaries of State Endorse Zuckerberg’s Millions Directed to Elections

Corinne Murdock

Michigan and Ohio state secretaries Jocelyn Benson and Frank LaRose endorsed $300 million directed to elections by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan. The Center for Tech and Civil Life (CTCL) and Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR) announced Tuesday that Zuckerberg and his wife donated in order “to promote safe and reliable voting in states and localities.”

Both Benson and LaRose agreed that the investment was necessary considering the pandemic’s effects on the presidential election. LaRose reposted the press release the day it came out, citing the need for accurate information during voting.

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