The Big Truth – Voters Not Politicians

The Big Truth

You deserve to know the truth
about the 2020 election

In 2020, more than 5.5 million ballots were cast in Michigan’s presidential election, breaking all previous turnout records in the state. Michigan’s high voter turnout was possible because of expanded voting rights enshrined in Michigan’s Constitution following the Proposal 3 ballot measure in 2018.

Unfortunately, “increased political polarization of our nation has resulted in increasing public discontentment with the administration, and therefore results, of our elections^[1].” The national attempt to use falsehoods and propaganda to undermine the results of the 2020 election has become known as “The Big Lie.”

The Michigan Senate Oversight Committee conducted a full investigation led by Senator Edward McBroom (R), Senator Lana Theis (R), Senator Jeff Irwin (D), and Senator John Bizon (R) ^[1]. This Republican-led investigation, along with hundreds of local and state audits, debunked the outrageous claims made by proponents of The Big Lie.

TURNOUT STATS:

More than 5.5 million ballots were cast, breaking the previous record set in 2008
71% of MI adults 18 and over participated in the 2020 presidential election, which is the highest percentage since the 1960 presidential election (Kennedy vs. Nixon)
About 3.3 million people voted by absentee ballot, representing 60% of the total ballots cast. Of these absentee ballots, less than 0.5% were rejected

Continue reading below to uncover the truth for yourself.

TRUTH: Thousands of dead people DID NOT vote (click for more)

Most claims of deceased individuals voting were false.

The two instances of deceased individuals voting were due to clerical and timing errors. The clerical error was due to a son who shared a name with his deceased father and the timing error was due to a woman who passed away before Election Day but after she sent in her absentee ballot.

The Secretary of State has an effective process to identify and remove ballots of voters who returned their ballots but died before Election Day. According to the Senate Oversight Committee Report, “the secretary of state and clerks were able to discover and remove approximately 3,500 absentee ballots submitted by voters while they were alive but died before Election Day, which is a commendable accomplishment.” (Michigan Senate Oversight Committee, page 9).

TRUTH: Jurisdictions DID NOT report voter turnout over 100% (click for more)

No jurisdiction reported turnout over 100%.

The chart below is from page 25 of the Michigan Senate Oversight Committee’s Report on the November 2020 election.

False Claim: 118% of registered voters in Oneida Township voted.
Truth: 80% of registered voters in Oneida Township voted.

False Claim: 460.51% of registered voters in Zeeland Township voted.
Truth: Precincts across the township reported a range of 74.46% to 84.80% of registered voters voted.

False Claim: 120% of registered voters in Spring Lake Township voted.
Truth: Precincts across the township reported a range of 66.74% to 84.15% of registered voters voted.

False Claim: 215.21% of registered voters in Gladwin Township voted.
Truth: 67.23% of registered voters in Gladwin Township voted.

False Claim: Over 100% of registered voters in Summit Township voted.
Truth: 71% of registered voters in Summit Township voted.

False Claim: President Donald Trump claimed that there were "more votes than voters" in Detroit.
Truth: 250,138 votes were cast in Detroit, which is under 50% of registered voters in the city and only 37% of the total population in the city.

TRUTH: Thousands of ballots were NOT “dumped” at the TCF center (click for more)

Truth: Around 3:30 a.m., the TCF Center received a delivery of around 16,000 absentee ballots.

These ballots -- which had been received by mail, drop boxes, and at the clerk’s offices -- had been processed by the clerk’s office prior to being transferred to the TCF Center.

The photo that has been used to support the theory that a “ballot dump” occurred actually showed a photographer handling their equipment. No proof that fraudulent ballots were delivered to the TCP Center was uncovered throughout the investigation (Michigan Senate Oversight Committee, 26).

TRUTH: Large numbers of unsolicited absentee ballots WERE NOT mailed to voters (click for more)

After contacting voters at random, the Committee found that very few people received a ballot without requesting it.

One reason for the claim that a large number of unsolicited ballots were mailed was attributed to the possibility that voters mistook absentee ballot applications for actual ballots. The Committee could not find reasonable evidence that “hundreds of thousands of absentee voter ballots were mailed to Michigan voters without previously being requested.” (Michigan Senate Oversight Committee, 10).

TRUTH: Votes in Antrim County WERE NOT switched from Donald Trump to Joe Biden (click for more)

The official and certified election results in Antrim County were accurate, and the false claim that “votes for Donald Trump were switched with votes for Joe Biden” is untrue.

Due to administrative errors, the unofficial results reported at the end of the tabulation were incorrect. The errors were "explained before a joint hearing of the Senate and House Oversight Committees in November 2020 by the Antrim County Clerk, Sheryl Guy." (Michigan Senate Oversight Committee, 14)

Ballots in Antrim were recounted by hand before the official and accurate results were certified. (Michigan Senate Oversight Committee, 14-15).

Republican Senator Edward McBroom stated: "All compelling theories that sprang forth from the rumors surrounding Antrim County are diminished so significantly as for it to be a complete waste of time to consider them further."

SOURCES:

Report on the November 2020 Election in Michigan (Michigan Senate Oversight Committee, June 2021)

More than 250 audits confirm accuracy and integrity of Michigan's election (Office of the Michigan Secretary of State, March 2, 2021)

Audits of the November 3, 2020 Election (Michigan Department of State, April 21, 2021)

Michigan Republicans Debunk Voter Fraud Claims in Unsparing Report (The New York Times, June 23, 2021)

See 2020 election turnout by Michigan county compared to 2016 (MLive, November 05, 2020)

Few Michigan absentee ballots rejected amid record voter turnout in 2020 election (Click on Detroit December 2, 2020)

Far too little vote fraud to tip election to Trump, AP finds (Associated Press on Detroit December 14, 2021)

Michigan Voter Registration Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible to register to vote you must be:

A Michigan resident (at the time you register) and a resident of your city or township for at least 30 days (when you vote)
A United States citizen
At least 18 years of age (when you vote)
Not currently serving a sentence in jail or prison

Eligible individuals may register to vote online through the Michigan Secretary of State portal by providing their Michigan driver’s license or state ID number, their eye color as listed on their license or state ID, and the last four digits of their social security number. When using this system, one must also authorize the cancellation of any previous voter registration.

Complete instructions are available at the Michigan Secretary of State website.

How elections are certified in Michigan (click for more)

The State Board of Canvassers is established by Article II, Section 7 of the Michigan Constitution. The actions and responsibilities of County Boards of Canvassers are established by Act 116, Section 24.a.

First, ballots are processed and counted by municipal clerks and trained election workers (Act 116, Section 168.803).
After ballots are tallied, County Boards of Canvassers review the vote tallies and certify the results (Act 116, Section 168.822, 168.824, 168.826-168.828).
1. The boards may correct any obvious mathematical errors at this time.
2. In the event that the County Board of Canvassers determines that the returns already made are incorrect or incomplete, they may require election inspectors to count any uncounted or incomplete results, or they may designate staff members from the county clerk's office to do the same (Act 116, Section 168.823 (3)).
Final results from Michigan’s 83 county canvassing boards are forwarded to the Michigan State Board of Canvassers. Upon receipt of a certificate of determination from the County Boards of Canvassers, the State Board of Canvassers records the results of the county canvass (Act 116, Section 168.841).
The State Board of Canvassers meets to look at the vote totals and hear any complaints about the results (Act 116, Section 168.842). The board can vote then or at a later meeting to certify the election results. The state certification results in the selection of 16 Michigan electors (Act 116, Section 168.46).
The Electoral College meets on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December to cast their votes for president and vice president (Act 116, Section 168.47). Michigan law forbids electors from changing their votes (Act 116, Section 168.47).

The Big Truth is a project of Voters Not Politicians.