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Michigan: Over 500 Election Clerks Are Not Accredited to Run State’s Elections

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Published on: December 30, 2019

An audit that was released on Friday in Michigan shows that hundreds of counties, cities and towns don’t have election clerks who are accredited to run the state’s elections.

The Hill reported on the audit:

Local election clerks did not meet legal training requirements in 32 counties, 83 cities and 426 townships, a report from the office of Michigan’s auditor general found. 

The auditor general’s review also identified 12 counties, 38 cities and 290 townships in which the clerk did not meet the requirements and no other official had gotten full accreditation either. 

Those included:

  • In Wayne County, the cities of Plymouth, Highland Park, Harper Woods, Ecorse, and Wayne.
  • In Oakland County, the city of Rochester and Holly Township.
  • In Macomb County, the cities of Memphis, New Baltimore and Roseville.

According to Michigan law, local clerks are to participate in accreditation courses and take continuing education courses every two years.

“We recommend that BOE improve its process to promote accreditation to help ensure that local election officials are fully trained and updated on Michigan’s election process,” the document said.

Sean Walton points out, “Even though the Bureau of Elections (BOE) directly assigned clerks training and continuing education through an online portal and notified them of the required training via weekly newsletters, the BOE does not have the authority to enforce participation.”

Several clerks protest the audit.

The Detroit Free Press reports:

In Ecorse, City Clerk Dana Hughes said the information in the audit is incorrect. Hughes said both she and her deputy were accredited in 2014 and since then have remained compliant with required updates every two years.

“That’s a lie,” Hughes said. “I’ve always had my accreditation.”

The audit is a snapshot in time, based on records in May of this year, and it is possible some local clerks and other election officials have received full accreditation since the report was released.

The audit noted that the law requires the state Bureau of Elections to establish comprehensive training and an accreditation program for all local election officials, and it requires local clerks to participate in both accreditation and ongoing learning. But the law does not empower the Bureau of Elections to force participation.

In Highland Park, City Clerk Brenda Green said she has “done everything the state has asked me to do to stay accredited,” and “I can’t understand how that information is incorrect.”

“I will be reaching out to them,” Green said.

In Memphis, Clerk/Treasurer Donna Janssens said her deputy clerk is not yet accredited, because she was just hired.

“I’ll have to look into this,” Janssens said. “I believe I am up to date on everything.”

However, the Michigan Auditor General’s Office said that as of this past Friday, neither Hughes nor Janssens show that their accreditations are up to date in the Bureau of Elections records.

And you wonder why there is election fraud.  It isn’t just the dead people voting, the finagling with voting machines or with paper ballots being stuffed into boxes or driven in from who knows where.

The people in Michigan should be outraged at this and demand these clerks get up to date or be removed.

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