Public's Confidence In Elections Up Slightly

(Source: MIRS.news, Published 06/26/2025) A majority of Michigan Republicans, Democrats and independents are satisfied with the state's election laws, according to new polling that also found that 76 percent believe the November 2024 election was fair and secure.

The Democracy Defense Project survey of 800 voters conducted June 1-6 by the Glengariff Group also found that 88% of voters said they trusted their local elections, a jump from the 78% who said so in October 2024.

Trumpeting the results at a press conference held at the Gerald R. Ford Museum in Grand Rapids were former Govs. John Engler and Jim Blanchard, former Lt. Gov. John Cherry, former U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop, and Kent County Clerk Lisa Posthumus Lyons.

"There will be people who want to take these debates and provide some misinformation, perhaps inject some degree of fear in the process, but the truth is that Michigan’s process is a healthy one,” Cherry said.

The poll released Thursday is a follow up to one conducted in October 2024 to gauge voter attitudes before the general election, which featured a contentious presidential match-up between then-Vice President Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, and around eight months after Trump won and Republicans took control of Congress.

Other results from the survey were:

- 82.1% say voters (as opposed to legislators) should have the final say in setting Michigan’s election laws, compared with 11.2% who say legislators should.

- 56.9% of voters say they are at least somewhat concerned about non-citizens voting in elections, with 35.8% saying they are very concerned. A final 40.1% were not concerned.

- 54% of Republicans believe “thousands of non-citizens” are voting in the election. 26% of independents and 9% of Democrats believe that to be true.

- 65.6% support a constitutional amendment requiring anyone registering to vote to prove citizenship and be verified by the Secretary of State

- 53.5% support same-day voter registration, while 43.6% prefer a return to a 30-day waiting period.

- 57.4% oppose purging voters from the qualified voter rolls if they have not voted in 10 years.

- 65% oppose moving to ranked choice voting in the state.