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Several Michigan lawmakers answered questions about election security during a town hall hosted by U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell on Monday in Ann Arbor.
The program took place at Washtenaw Community College’s Morris Lawrence Building, with Michigan Deputy Secretary of State Aghogho Edevbie among the participants.
“I believe in the security of our elections,” one voter said during the program.
That said, there were still questions from attendees. The discussion included who is voting, whether votes are being tabulated correctly, voter suppression tactics, the risk of artificial intelligence intervening in the process, and how to ensure candidates win fairly.
Dingell said she expected many of those questions and that leadership at the local and federal levels is working to run elections smoothly. “If they play games, we’ll address it,” Dingell said.
Other questions involved the logistics of absentee voting, early in-person voting and Election Day polling place voting – all of which are options under Michigan law. Edevbie said paper ballots are used in each of those processes.
“A paper ballot. We are always going to vote by a paper ballot, and we audit those results after every election,” he said.
The poll books also help track the ballots, he added.
Regarding absentee ballots, which are delivered by mail and can be returned by mail, in person, or to a ballot drop box, Dingell said she was aware that some mail routes had no mail carriers in early August. She is researching the tip she received from a whistleblower on that matter, and said she has sent a letter to the postmaster seeking a follow-up.
Dingell said voters should mail in their absentee ballots early, if they use the mail to return them, and look for confirmation that the clerk received them. Voters can track their ballots at Michigan.gov/vote.
Polling locations are staffed by people from both the Democratic and Republican parties, Dingell added, and law enforcement can be called if there are suspected incidents of voter intimidation at the polls.
