Michigan’s Secretary of State released the findings of her investigation Thursday into claims of noncitizens being registered to vote in Macomb County.
Of the 15 cases the department looked into, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said three were citizens. Four more already had their registration canceled. The state is waiting to get more information on the other eight to verify their statuses.
Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini first raised concerns about the voter registrations after some residents refused jury duty, claiming they weren’t citizens. In a press conference earlier this month, Forlini said he was letting the Macomb County corporation counsel Frank Krycia handle the information.
That led to the involvement, he said, of various law enforcement agencies, though Forlini has so far declined to say which ones, saying he doesn’t want to interfere with any investigation.
Benson said officials need to be careful about how they address concerns around potential non-citizen voters.
“We have proof that the warnings we’ve been given, that approaching this issue with a sledgehammer and not a scalpel can lead to the disenfranchisement of eligible voters, reckless accusations without careful investigations put American citizens under the threat of arrest and criminal inquiry even though they have done nothing wrong,” Benson told reporters Thursday.
During her press conference, Benson asserted the U.S. Department of Justice has now gotten involved.
The DOJ had separately sued the state for full voter records, including social security and driver’s license numbers, last September. The state previously gave the department some of Michigan’s voter data while declining to make other information available that state officials said could identify individuals or put the state's election security at risk.
Democracy watchdog groups are dubious of the legality of the federal government’s efforts to get that information.
Benson said she feared the actions could play into a larger plot to undermine trust in Michigan’s elections. She criticized Forlini for publicly discussing the Macomb County case before further investigation.
“Responsible election officials don’t hold press conferences before they’ve actually verified anything and we don’t meet with federal officials that are pushing conspiracy theories around voting before we’ve actually checked the facts,” Benson said.
Forlini said his office reached out to the state before holding the press conference and was told to handle it with local officials.
In a press release, he said Benson's statements on Thursday “conflict with prior guidance issued by the Bureau of Elections regarding how non-citizens appearing on the voter rolls should be addressed. While these inconsistencies remain, we are prepared to work collaboratively toward a resolution.
His office said other than the finding that three of the people were American citizens, Benson’s results largely overlapped with his own.
Three people on the list had voted in the past. One was an American citizen. Another last voted in 2018, before Benson took office, and had since been removed from the voter rolls.
The third person last voted in 2024. The state is asking that person for more information to verify their status.
Overall, the number of noncitizens who voted in Michigan’s last election made up about 0.00028% of voters.
The press conference largely did not address Forlini’s concerns regarding people who weren’t citizens possibly also appearing on the state’s jury duty lists. To that end, he called on state lawmakers to step in with new policies.
“Safe and secure elections is our goal. Public trust must be restored in the system so that all citizens have confidence in our electoral process. I believe that this can only be accomplished with transparency, security and integrity throughout the election and jury systems. These are the principles I am committed to delivering for the citizens of Macomb County,” Forlini’s statement said.
During Benson’s press conference, speakers said using the jury pool to check voter registrations may not be as easy as it seems. David Becker is with the Center for Election Innovation and Research.
“It’s really hard to take a name from a jury questionnaire and match it to a voter file and be absolutely certain you’re talking about the same individual. Because the data on a jury questionnaire doesn’t often match what might be in the voter file. For instance, a driver’s license number or a social security number might not be on that. So, you’re going to get a lot of false positives,” Becker said.
Becker told reporters that Michigan was a “standard bearer” when it came to cleaning the state’s voter rolls. He told reporters that’s because Michigan ties its voter lists with its driving records and is part of the Electronic Registration Information Center.
Despite that, Michigan Republicans have long criticized Benson for her handling of the state’s voter rolls. The Republican National Committee unsuccessfully sued over it.
This is all as Michigan promises to play a key piece in the upcoming midterm elections.
With multiple competitive congressional seats and an open U.S. Senate seat, state officials have shared concerns about what would happen should Michigan be a target for election interference.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer told NPR this month that she and other governors are doing tabletop exercises to prepare for that scenario. Benson said her office is doing the same.
“It really underscores also, not just our preparation for ’26, and ’28, and beyond, but how much stronger the fabric of the election administration community has become over these last several cycles as we worked together with local law enforcement, with first responders, to be prepared to mitigate any potential disruptions and certainly deter them from happening in the first place,” Benson said.
