Wayne County reported more out-of-balance precincts in the Nov. 3 election than Michigan's other 82 counties combined, a fact that does not prove fraud but demonstrates the need for changes to state law, say officials who oversee voting.
About 23% of the precincts or absentee counting boards in Michigan's most populous county were out of balance without explanations after the local canvassing process ended, meaning the number of voters tracked in poll books didn't match the number of ballots counted.
Overall, Wayne County reported 366 precincts out of balance while Michigan's other 82 counties combined to report 320, according to a Detroit News analysis of data provided by the Secretary of State's Office.
The numbers are significant because Wayne County casts more ballots than any other county in the state. The high rate of imbalance indicates at least some of the county's precincts wouldn't be eligible for a recount if one occurred.
Also, the imbalances and claims about them have spurred distrust in the election's result as supporters of President Donald Trump have tried to discredit Michigan's vote with unsubstantiated fraud allegations.
“There needs to be changes to this because every election cycle we go through the same bull crap," said Jonathan Kinloch, one of two Democratic members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers.
In reaction to the new data, Kinloch and other election officials called for reforms to help prevent out-of-balance precincts and to downplay the focus on them. Precincts are often out of balance because of simple errors, Livonia Clerk Susan Nash said Tuesday.
A tabulator could jam. Someone might send back an envelope without their absentee ballot in it. Or someone could be issued a ballot for the wrong precinct, which could leave two precincts out of balance.
"None of this is fraud," said Nash, who holds a nonpartisan office. "This is purely people making errors."
The rate of out-of-balance precincts in Detroit — about 70% of its absentee counting boards and 17% of its Election Day precincts — has been targeted by supporters of Trump. But Kinloch said Wayne County, where Detroit is located, has more out-of-balance precincts than other counties because it has more voters than other counties.
"It begins and ends there," he said.
But Detroit has been in the spotlight for its out-of-balance precincts for years. The two Republican members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers initially cited the imbalances for refusing to certify the county's results before eventually voting to certify.
On Tuesday, the Michigan House and Senate Oversight Committee issued subpoenas for a trove of election records from Detroit Clerk Janice Winfrey and Livonia Clerk Susan Nash.
Livonia, Michigan's 10th largest municipality and the second-largest in Wayne County, had similar rates of imbalance to Detroit in the Nov. 3 election. Of its Election Day precincts, 16% were out of balance, and of its absentee voting precincts, 68% were out of balance, according to Wayne County records.
Of the 15 largest municipalities in Michigan, Detroit and Livonia had the highest rates of imbalance.
"We've heard a lot of explanation for how poll books get out of balance," McBroom said. "This level is something that we want to check into."
Nash, the Livonia clerk, noted she had to quarantine because of a COVID-19 exposure while her city's results were being canvassed before certification. If that hadn't happened, more of the city's imbalances would have been resolved, she said.
Detroit's past problems with out-of-balance precincts helped spur a state law change at the end of 2018 that required counties to report information on their out-of-balance precincts to the Michigan Secretary of State.
Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield, who sponsored the bill, said the 2017 Detroit city clerk's race, in which one in five precincts couldn't be recounted, inspired election officials to want more data on imbalances.
"These are clerical errors and we need to examine why they are occurring," Moss said.
The Nov. 3 election was the first statewide general election where counties had to report their data under the law. The Michigan Secretary of State's Office released the information to The News last week.
Out of Michigan's 83 counties, a majority, 46, reported zero out-of-balance Election Day and absentee voting precincts after their local canvassing processes. Thirty counties fewer than 10 out-of-balance precincts.
Seven counties — Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Kent, Saginaw, Ingham and Genesee — reported more than 10. All seven are among the 11 most populated counties in the state.
Wayne had the most out-of-balance precincts or counting boards by far at 366. Oakland County, Michigan's second-largest, was second with 109. Macomb County was third at 58.
Among the seven largest counties in Michigan, Wayne County had more than double the rate of imbalances — 23% — than others. Oakland County had about 10% of its precincts out of balance. Macomb was at about 8%.
Washtenaw County, which has about 370,000 residents, was the largest county to report zero out of balance precincts.
The office of Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett declined to comment for this story, referring a reporter to the Michigan Secretary of State.
Jake Rollow, a spokesman for Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, said out-of-balance precincts "represent clerical errors" and are typically more common in larger population centers where more votes are cast and clerks have more work to do in the same two-week canvassing period as other smaller jurisdictions.
"The Michigan state Legislature chose to make these errors more prevalent when it gave clerks only 10 hours before Election Day to process absentee ballots," Rollow added. "Other states had days or weeks. Florida had more than a month."
Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, a Democrat, agreed that giving local election officials more time to begin processing absentee ballots before Election Day would help cut down on imbalances.
Before the Nov. 3 election, the GOP-controlled Legislature allowed clerks in large in municipalities to begin working with absentee ballot envelopes — without counting them — from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the day before the election.
Giving clerks more time to do the pre-processing and to even begin feeding ballots into tabulating machines without counting them would help, Byrum said.
"Absolutely without hesitation, I believe that would be the case," she said of the potential benefit.
In addition, Kinloch, a member of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, said state lawmakers need to allow municipalities to recount problem precincts.
Under the state's election law, precincts can be disqualified from recounts — meaning the original tallies stand while others are re-examined — if the number of participating voters tracked in poll books doesn't match the number of ballots cast without an explanation or the seal on the ballot container is broken.
Not being able to recount precincts and determine if errors exist spurs claims of fraud and doubt, Kinloch contended.
Making direct comparisons from county to county for out-of-balance precincts is challenging because the number of precincts and the number of votes tallied varies greatly from county to county.
For instance, Wayne County had 1,115 Election Day precincts and 878,112 ballots were cast in the Nov. 3 election. The Upper Peninsula's Dickinson County had 16 precincts and 14,677 ballots cast.
On top of those differences, different cities and townships count their ballots differently. Generally, municipalities have Election Day precincts, for counting votes cast in polling places on Election Day and duplicative absentee voting precincts for counting absentee ballots cast in the Election Day precincts.
However, there are some small jurisdictions that count all of their ballots in Election Day precincts. And Detroit uses 134 absentee counting boards to tally absentee ballots in its 503 precincts.
Of those 134 counting boards, 94 were out of balance without an explanation by at least one vote, about 70%. It's possible that if the city tracked the totals by precinct, like others do, there would be a higher rate of imbalance. It's also possible there would be a lower rate.
Jonathan Brater, Michigan's elections director, said in a past sworn affidavit that the difference in absentee ballots tabulated and names in poll books across the city of Detroit was 150. There were "fewer ballots tabulated than names in the poll books," Brater said.
During a Senate Oversight Committee hearing on Dec. 8, Chris Thomas, Michigan's longtime former elections director who served as an adviser in Detroit's election, said when there is a high rate of ballots coming in, there will be out-of-balance precincts.
"If you go across this state, you're going to find unbalanced precincts across the state, particularly urban areas," Thomas told lawmakers.
Michigan's general election set a record with a turnout of 5.5 million voters.
Wayne County reported more out-of-balance precincts in the Nov. 3 election than Michigan's other 82 counties combined, a fact that does not prove fraud but demonstrates the need for changes to state law, say officials who oversee voting.
Um no. When the number of votes does not match the number of voters that does prove fraud.
Wayne County reported more out-of-balance precincts in the Nov. 3 election than Michigan's other 82 counties combined, a fact that does not prove fraud but demonstrates the need for changes to state law, say officials who oversee voting.
About 23% of the precincts or absentee counting boards in Michigan's most populous county were out of balance without explanations after the local canvassing process ended, meaning the number of voters tracked in poll books didn't match the number of ballots counted.
Overall, Wayne County reported 366 precincts out of balance while Michigan's other 82 counties combined to report 320, according to a Detroit News analysis of data provided by the Secretary of State's Office.
The numbers are significant because Wayne County casts more ballots than any other county in the state. The high rate of imbalance indicates at least some of the county's precincts wouldn't be eligible for a recount if one occurred.
Also, the imbalances and claims about them have spurred distrust in the election's result as supporters of President Donald Trump have tried to discredit Michigan's vote with unsubstantiated fraud allegations.
“There needs to be changes to this because every election cycle we go through the same bull crap," said Jonathan Kinloch, one of two Democratic members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers.
In reaction to the new data, Kinloch and other election officials called for reforms to help prevent out-of-balance precincts and to downplay the focus on them. Precincts are often out of balance because of simple errors, Livonia Clerk Susan Nash said Tuesday.
A tabulator could jam. Someone might send back an envelope without their absentee ballot in it. Or someone could be issued a ballot for the wrong precinct, which could leave two precincts out of balance.
"None of this is fraud," said Nash, who holds a nonpartisan office. "This is purely people making errors."
The rate of out-of-balance precincts in Detroit — about 70% of its absentee counting boards and 17% of its Election Day precincts — has been targeted by supporters of Trump. But Kinloch said Wayne County, where Detroit is located, has more out-of-balance precincts than other counties because it has more voters than other counties.
"It begins and ends there," he said.
But Detroit has been in the spotlight for its out-of-balance precincts for years. The two Republican members of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers initially cited the imbalances for refusing to certify the county's results before eventually voting to certify.
On Tuesday, the Michigan House and Senate Oversight Committee issued subpoenas for a trove of election records from Detroit Clerk Janice Winfrey and Livonia Clerk Susan Nash.
Livonia, Michigan's 10th largest municipality and the second-largest in Wayne County, had similar rates of imbalance to Detroit in the Nov. 3 election. Of its Election Day precincts, 16% were out of balance, and of its absentee voting precincts, 68% were out of balance, according to Wayne County records.
Of the 15 largest municipalities in Michigan, Detroit and Livonia had the highest rates of imbalance.
"We've heard a lot of explanation for how poll books get out of balance," McBroom said. "This level is something that we want to check into."
Nash, the Livonia clerk, noted she had to quarantine because of a COVID-19 exposure while her city's results were being canvassed before certification. If that hadn't happened, more of the city's imbalances would have been resolved, she said.
Detroit's past problems with out-of-balance precincts helped spur a state law change at the end of 2018 that required counties to report information on their out-of-balance precincts to the Michigan Secretary of State.
Sen. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield, who sponsored the bill, said the 2017 Detroit city clerk's race, in which one in five precincts couldn't be recounted, inspired election officials to want more data on imbalances.
"These are clerical errors and we need to examine why they are occurring," Moss said.
The Nov. 3 election was the first statewide general election where counties had to report their data under the law. The Michigan Secretary of State's Office released the information to The News last week.
Out of Michigan's 83 counties, a majority, 46, reported zero out-of-balance Election Day and absentee voting precincts after their local canvassing processes. Thirty counties fewer than 10 out-of-balance precincts.
Seven counties — Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Kent, Saginaw, Ingham and Genesee — reported more than 10. All seven are among the 11 most populated counties in the state.
Wayne had the most out-of-balance precincts or counting boards by far at 366. Oakland County, Michigan's second-largest, was second with 109. Macomb County was third at 58.
Among the seven largest counties in Michigan, Wayne County had more than double the rate of imbalances — 23% — than others. Oakland County had about 10% of its precincts out of balance. Macomb was at about 8%.
Washtenaw County, which has about 370,000 residents, was the largest county to report zero out of balance precincts.
The office of Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett declined to comment for this story, referring a reporter to the Michigan Secretary of State.
Jake Rollow, a spokesman for Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, said out-of-balance precincts "represent clerical errors" and are typically more common in larger population centers where more votes are cast and clerks have more work to do in the same two-week canvassing period as other smaller jurisdictions.
"The Michigan state Legislature chose to make these errors more prevalent when it gave clerks only 10 hours before Election Day to process absentee ballots," Rollow added. "Other states had days or weeks. Florida had more than a month."
Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, a Democrat, agreed that giving local election officials more time to begin processing absentee ballots before Election Day would help cut down on imbalances.
Before the Nov. 3 election, the GOP-controlled Legislature allowed clerks in large in municipalities to begin working with absentee ballot envelopes — without counting them — from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on the day before the election.
Giving clerks more time to do the pre-processing and to even begin feeding ballots into tabulating machines without counting them would help, Byrum said.
"Absolutely without hesitation, I believe that would be the case," she said of the potential benefit.
In addition, Kinloch, a member of the Wayne County Board of Canvassers, said state lawmakers need to allow municipalities to recount problem precincts.
Under the state's election law, precincts can be disqualified from recounts — meaning the original tallies stand while others are re-examined — if the number of participating voters tracked in poll books doesn't match the number of ballots cast without an explanation or the seal on the ballot container is broken.
Not being able to recount precincts and determine if errors exist spurs claims of fraud and doubt, Kinloch contended.
Making direct comparisons from county to county for out-of-balance precincts is challenging because the number of precincts and the number of votes tallied varies greatly from county to county.
For instance, Wayne County had 1,115 Election Day precincts and 878,112 ballots were cast in the Nov. 3 election. The Upper Peninsula's Dickinson County had 16 precincts and 14,677 ballots cast.
On top of those differences, different cities and townships count their ballots differently. Generally, municipalities have Election Day precincts, for counting votes cast in polling places on Election Day and duplicative absentee voting precincts for counting absentee ballots cast in the Election Day precincts.
However, there are some small jurisdictions that count all of their ballots in Election Day precincts. And Detroit uses 134 absentee counting boards to tally absentee ballots in its 503 precincts.
Of those 134 counting boards, 94 were out of balance without an explanation by at least one vote, about 70%. It's possible that if the city tracked the totals by precinct, like others do, there would be a higher rate of imbalance. It's also possible there would be a lower rate.
Jonathan Brater, Michigan's elections director, said in a past sworn affidavit that the difference in absentee ballots tabulated and names in poll books across the city of Detroit was 150. There were "fewer ballots tabulated than names in the poll books," Brater said.
During a Senate Oversight Committee hearing on Dec. 8, Chris Thomas, Michigan's longtime former elections director who served as an adviser in Detroit's election, said when there is a high rate of ballots coming in, there will be out-of-balance precincts.
"If you go across this state, you're going to find unbalanced precincts across the state, particularly urban areas," Thomas told lawmakers.
Michigan's general election set a record with a turnout of 5.5 million voters.
Um no. When the number of votes does not match the number of voters that does prove fraud.
How many votes are we talking about? 7? 70? 7000?
The numbers matter.