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New U of M survey finds high election confidence among local Michigan officials

Steve Carmody
/
Michigan Radio

The University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) surveyed1,856 local governments in Michigan about confidence in midterm election security.

85% of respondents said they are “very confident” that their jurisdiction’s final vote results will be accurate. That’s up from 63% in 2020.

78% of officials are very confident that their voting machines and election results will be reliable. Only 3% anticipate problems with post-election processes, like counting absentee ballots.

Tom Ivacko, Executive Director of CLOSUP, said this confidence is reflective of high accuracy in local elections.

"When it comes to running elections, this is something that local governments actually do very well, and citizens should have confidence that our elections are done accurately,” he said.

In larger jurisdictions, officials were most concerned about recruiting enough poll workers for election day. Other concerns included election disinformation and disturbances at polling places.

Emily is a junior at the University of Michigan double majoring in Communications and Creative Writing.