Michigan Republicans worry about election security after Chinese nationals vote
DETROIT — Guess who’s coming to Election Day?After last week’s revelation a Chinese national voted in the Nov.5 election in Michigan — and his vote will count — Republicans have continued to voice election-security concerns.
Former Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, a Republicans state senator, said the party has reason to be concerned: Nearly 35,000 people have registered to vote in 2024 whose data don’t pass muster.“So far in 2024, there have been 34,535 individuals whose name, date of birth and Social Security numbers do not match any record found in the Social Security database,” said Johnson, who represents Holly.
“That is a huge increase from previous years and very alarming to me.”Johnson said the number in her days as secretary of state (2011 to 2019) was 54.In just five years, Michigan went from 54 people whose records didn’t match the Social Security database to nearly 35,000.Democrats and Republicans alike are closely watching the swing state.
Donald Trump won n the Great Lakes State by about 10,000 votes in 2016 over Hillary Clinton but lost it by about 154,000 votes in 2020 to Joe Biden.Johnson said in her time, the secretary of state would run voter-registration requests through the US Department of Homeland Security to ensure only citizens are voting.In the time since, Michigan has embraced same-day voter registration.
The illegal voter in Ann Arbor, a University of Michigan student, registered the same day he voted.“We have no system to check if people are registering or voting who are not eligible,” Johnson added.“The only way the student at UM was caught is because he requested his ballot back from the clerk.”State Sen.
Lana Theis, another Republican lawmaker, agrees election security is a worry in Michigan.She said the problem can only be fixed the way it was created: with a voter-approved state constitutional amendment.“We’re going to have to run another ballot question that overrides what happened in 2018 a...