The Lansing city clerk says the video shared by the Michigan Republican Party showing an unlocked ballot box is from before absentee ballots were mailed out to the public.
Both the clerk and the Secretary of State called it misinformation.
A video released earlier this week on social media by the Michigan Republican Party shows a man opening up a ballot box outside the Foster Community Center. The box had a white envelope inside of it.
Chris Swope, the Lansing city clerk, says the video was taken right after the ballot boxes were installed and before his staff was sent out to secure them.
“When my staff went to the drop box, they left it secure and have been checking it daily since then,” he said.
He says the envelope shown in the video isn’t even an absentee ballot.
“I can tell by the envelope, by the color, that it is not a ballot. The ballots are in envelopes that have green markings on both sides that are very visible,” says Swope.
Each box has a spring preventing it from being left unlocked if the door is shut.
According to Swope, all ballot boxes are being carefully monitored by security cameras and checked regularly by sworn members of the city clerk’s office.
“This is a safe and secure way to vote and anybody who is trying to manipulate the facts to discourage people from voting is not being very patriotic,” Swope says.
A statement from the Michigan Secretary of State said the video and the GOP press release were being referred to the attorney general for investigation as election misinformation.
The Republican Party did not respond for comment.
