Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is once again patting herself on the back, declaring Michigan’s elections “secure and accurate” after the Bureau of Elections completed nearly 500 audits – all conveniently managed under her own office’s watchful eye.
According to Benson’s press release, everything went swimmingly. Machines worked as they were supposed to, clerks were model citizens, and not a single thing worth worrying about happened anywhere. You’d think Michigan’s elections were run by angels armed with clipboards and moral purity instead of a bureaucracy that has faced multiple lawsuits over election transparency.
The state’s audit, Benson says, only found a 33-vote difference out of 119,567 ballots. But why, if the elections are “accurate,” is there any discrepancy at all?
Benson’s press shop skipped right over any REAL issues she’s been criticized for like chain of custody, ballot handling controversies, and her refusal to fix issues with voter roll problems.
And for good measure, Benson threw in a feel-good line about bipartisan cooperation – as if a few clerks agreeing on the math somehow cancels out concerns about signature verification or the mysterious midnight ballot drops of elections past.
Meanwhile, lawsuits have continued to pile up against Benson for allegedly bending state law, dodging FOIA requests, and reinterpreting election rules on the fly. But sure – let’s all rest easy knowing the same officials being sued for election mismanagement are grading their own homework and giving themselves an A+.