(Source: MIRS.news, Published 10/10/2024) Michigan voter confidence in elections substantially increased when participants were told of 12 election practices that are already in law or in widespread use in Michigan, according to an 800-Michigan voter survey released Thursday by the Democracy Defense Project.

Before informing them of the election practices, 77 percent of voters said they were confident in the validity of elections. The data showed that responders said if all 12 practices were in place, their confidence would rise to 94%.  

The data reported that election confidence was the lowest among Trump voters and those who identified themselves as strongly leaning Republican. Exactly 61 percent of Trump supporters said they have confidence in elections compared to 92 percent of Harris supporters.  

“It didn’t help that the former president, when he won, he claimed the election was rigged, and when he lost, he claimed the election was rigged,” said former Gov. James Blanchard. “None of us buy into that notion, by the way.”  

After learning about the 12 measures in place, confidence among Trump supporters increased to 90%. Harris supporter voter confidence increased to 98%.  

Among the voters who said they have no confidence, 80% said the 12 measures being in place would give them confidence in elections.  

Democracy Defense Project spokesperson Mark Fisk said the data heeds “warning signs;” however, “there’s also cause for hope that doing some basic public education around the safeguards already in place and some of the best practices by Michigan clerks can restore that confidence.”  

“Our voters trust our process. They just need to know what the process is,” said Kent County Clerk Lisa Lyons.

Byrum, Blanchard, former Gov. John Engler, Rep. John Cherry (D-Flint), former U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop and Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum also supported basic education surrounding election practices. 

The election measures include: 

1. Requiring voting machines to be tested  
2. Requiring paper ballots to be stored in locked facilities with documented chain of custody to confirm they are secure to prevent tampering  
3. Ensuring that voting machines are not connected to the internet 
4. Requiring absentee ballot drop boxes are video monitored and that authorized clerk personnel collect ballots daily 
5. Requiring ballots to be both machine and hand counted when results are close 
6. Requiring city and township clerks to update voter rolls and remove inactive and incorrect registrations 
7. Requiring the number of ballots issued equals the total of absentee and in-person votes cast 
8. Requiring state officials to use multi-state databases to check for duplicate registrations  
9. Requiring making sure the signatures on absentee ballots match the signatures in the official voting book 
10. Requiring every voter to present ID, or if they forget their ID, to sign a legal affidavit attesting their identity  
11. Not allowing ballots to be counted after election day, unless they are military or overseas ballots 
12. Requiring that voter interest groups are allowed to assign credentialed individuals to each polling location to monitor the voting process and challenge irregularities.