Election fraud has been a major talking point for former President Donald Trump’s since his loss against President Joe Biden in 2020. Claims of a "stolen" race sparked the Jan. 6 insurrection, where a mob of his supporters attempted to interfere with the certification of electoral votes after Trump falsely claimed the vote was rigged.

Throughout this year’s election, the former president and leading Republicans have continued to say the United States' system is fraudulent.

“If you have a few thousand illegals participate in an election in the wrong place, you can change the makeup of Congress, and you can affect the presidential election,” House Speaker Mike Johnson R-La. said at a Sept. 10 press conference.

Michigan is one of seven primary swing states in the 2024 election and is considered a “purple state” for its history of vacillating between a Republican and Democratic majority, according to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

Nessel visited Central Michigan University on Sept. 21 for one of her Defending Democracy Town Hall events, where she and Deputy Secretary of State Aghogho Edevbie answered questions voters across the state may have about the voting process.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel in the Bovee University Center Auditorium for her Defending Democracy Town Hall on Sept. 21. (CM Life | Blace Carpenter)

“I’m so proud of our system,” Nessel said. “Not just nationally, but in the state of Michigan. Our electoral systems are safe ... and they are accurate.”

Nessel began her role as attorney general in January 2019 and has overseen elections in 2020 and 2022. She said the only instance Michigan has had a non-citizen attempt to vote was a Canadian woman who tried to cast a ballot and was denied.

She explained that while instances of voter fraud are rare, they have occurred in the past and were dealt with.

“It’s important to know there are all these different ways to be sure of the accuracy and integrity of our elections,” Nessel said. “That is not to say that we don’t ever see an effort to undermine our democracy, even in small ways. … There are occasions where we see someone who tries to fill out an absentee ballot voter application for someone else. But when that happens, they get caught.”

Local protections

Michigan has 1,604 county and local election officials and is ranked second in the nation for election administration by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Heather Bouck is the Mount Pleasant City Clerk and said that she and her team have several procedures in place to ensure that voters’ ballots are secure.

“Our ballots are kept away from the public,” Bouck said. “They are under lock and key in an employee-only area during the time they are in our custody. … When we are out, it would just be my immediate staff that are involved with the election process. So there would be four of us (that have access to the ballots).”

Stacks of Michigan absentee ballots for the 2024 Presidential Election. (Photo courtesy of the City of Mount Pleasant)

For all updates and information about election procedures, she and other local officials have access to a number of classes and trainings through state and national bureaus.

“(The) staff takes training through the Bureau of Elections,” Bouck said. “There are classes offered as well through the Michigan Association of Municipal Clerks. We also have online training available through the Bureau of Elections e-portal, so some of that is done online.

"We have weekly news bulletins that come from the Bureau of Elections that update us on legislative changes, best practices and those types of things that are related to our position.”

She said that there are many checks and balances in the system that are in place to ensure elections are fair.

“It's been working for decades and it will continue to work going forward,” Bouck said.

Nessel: Question false claims

During her town hall meeting, Nessel made it clear that non-citizen voting is rare, despite the claims that have been made during this election year. She asked voters to question lies about election fraud.

“What I say to people when I hear, ‘Oh there’s hundreds, there’s thousands, there’s millions of non-citizens that are voting,' 'Can you give me a name?'” Nessel said. “It’s really easy to say we have all these non-citizens voting, but when you can’t provide a single name in a single location anywhere in the state of Michigan where this occurred.

"I’m sorry, but it’s really hard for me to take that seriously when you have no proof.”

She explained that any allegations of fraud are reported to the Michigan Department of State and a preliminary investigation is conducted. If anything is found within the investigation, it is given to her department.

“We have people in our office where that’s all they do all day, is investigating allegations of voter fraud,” Nessel said. “I am telling you that we have not seen evidence of non-citizens voting, except for one case that I already talked about.”

What do voters think?

For many students at CMU, Mount Pleasant isn’t their permanent address, leaving them with the option to drive home or vote absentee. Some believe that absentee ballots are secure, and others say that they prefer to vote at the polls.

“I prefer in-person,” said freshman Addison Roy, who is driving back to her hometown Kalamazoo on Election Day. “I feel like there is just a lot of risk.”

Freshman Mitch Nummer is voting absentee and believes that his ballot will be secure. He said that the recent push to change the voting process is what makes him nervous.

“The system was secure for sure in 2020, but I feel but it's kind of getting gutted a little bit more just because there is a bunch of election deniers working in elections now,” Nummer said.

Nessel urges voters who have any doubt about the system go to "the training that the poll workers go to and become a poll worker yourself."

While the deadline has passed to get involved in this election, residents can find more information on how to become a poll worker for future elections and the state’s ballot process at Michigan.gov.