Detroit 2016 Election Issues ‘Human Error;’ 31 Michiganders Voted Twice: Audit

DETROIT, MI — State election officials said “an abundance of human error,” rather than fraud or other illegal opportunity, accounted for differences in the number of ballots cast and voters recorded in Detroit in the Nov. 8, 2016, presidential election, the Michigan Elections Bureau said Thursday. A separate statewide review showed 31 Michiganders appeared to have voted twice, once by absentee ballot and again in person on Election Day, the state said.

The audit “refutes suspicions that the relatively small number of ballots placed in the ballot container could have been illegally tabulated again and again,” Secretary of State Ruth Johnson said in a statement.

In its audit of Detroit, the agency focused on 136 Detroit precincts it said were “the worst of the worst” with reports of misplaced ballot and unexplained mismatches of three or more votes.

Despite the problems and imbalances, the ability of Detroit residents to cast ballots and have their vote counted was not compromised and the outcome of the election was not affected, elections officials said. State election officials begin working with and training Detroit officials to ensure the Aug. 8 city primary election runs more smoothly.

Precinct worker mistakes included:

• Failing to properly use the electronic poll book, which the city began using in 2011, including failing to record voters when they were issued ballots, or when a ballot was spoiled and a voter was issued a new one.
• Leaving counted ballots in the tabulator bin at the end of the night instead of placing all ballots in a sealed container.
• Incorrectly recording or issuing provisional envelope ballots, which are used when a person doesn’t appear on the precinct’s voter list and needs to provide ID and/or proof of residency. The person votes the provisional ballot, which is then placed in an envelope, and then has six days to show he or she is a properly registered voter.

Of the 136 precincts that were audited, 65 were brought back into balance, the state said. In the remaining precincts, the number of ballots in question was less than 600 out of 250,000 votes cast citywide. By the time the reconciliation was complete, the the number of votes in question was less than 200, according to the audit.

The names of voters who appeared to have cast ballots twice identified in the statewide review of the election will be referred to the Michigan Attorney General’s Office for a criminal investigation, Johnson said. The review is ongoing and more individuals may be referred, she said.

Related

• Michigan Vote Recount: Half of Detroit Ballots May Not Count

In response to the Detroit audit findings, Johnson has directed the Bureau of Elections staff to work closely with Detroit election workers — similar to how they assisted city of Flint election workers in 2015 and 2016 after performance issues were identified. Elections staff, alongside city employees, will:

• Make Detroit’s election worker training and recruitment programs more effective. The audit report suggests having city employees work in the polls on Election Day to increase the pool of individuals with critical job skills, such as experience working with computers. “The city clerk’s office has done a commendable job of reaching out to large employers in the city to encourage their employees to work in the polls on Election Day, and similar outreach efforts should be made to the city of Detroit, area colleges, universities and professional associations to further expand the talent pool of qualified workers,” the state said.
• Elevate the performance of Detroit receiving boards, which are supposed to identify and correct any imbalance issues on election night and ensure that ballot containers are properly sealed, allowing the precinct to be recounted. While some Detroit receiving boards performed well, others did not.
• Improve the understanding of the proper use of electronic poll books, which have increased accuracy and completeness of voter records overall when used correctly. Statewide, 95 percent of precincts use them with those that don’t being almost all in small, rural communities.
• Compel county canvassing boards to disclose the number of out-of-balance precincts in the certified canvass reports that are submitted to the Bureau of Elections. Reporting this data will allow Bureau of Elections staff to better identify and correct issues in Michigan’s 1,520 cities and townships.
• Require that precinct chairs, who oversee the workers in each precinct, pass a written examination that tests their knowledge of provisional ballot procedures.

Johnson said election officials in Detroit and across Michigan have made progress in eliminating problems in recent years, but said the audit highlights key areas in need of improvements.

“I have directed Bureau of Elections staff to assist city election officials in making needed changes to poll worker training and recruitment efforts. Voters in Detroit and across Michigan deserve no less,” she said in the statement. “As part of our far-reaching anti-fraud efforts, my office will aggressively root out illegal voting. All cases of voter fraud will be reported for criminal investigation and prosecution.”

Photo by Justin Grimes via Flickr Commons