Local governments across Michigan are holding public accuracy tests of voting equipment before early voting begins for the 2026 midterm election.
State law requires the tests be held publicly at least five days before the start of early voting, which begins by Oct. 24 across Michigan (at least two Saturdays before the general election).
Grand Rapids hosted its test Monday in a city-owned warehouse building along the river. Clerk Joel Hondorp led the test; he sat at a table and rolled dice to determine randomly which tabulators to test. The tabulators were lined up in rows, one for each of the city’s 59 precincts. Staff also tested early voting tabulators and voter assist terminals to ensure the accuracy.
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Kent County Clerk Lisa Posthumus Lyons was at the test, helping check the results. She said she hopes the tests help build confidence in the outcome of the election.
“What matters is making sure at the end of the day, we’re a rule of law nation,” she said. “And you go through all these checks, all these processes, the court cases and at the end of the day a winner is certified and people have to accept those results.”
During the test, Hondorp first unlocked the machines, entered a code, then printed a long receipt-like sheet of paper to confirm it had zero votes at the start of the test count. Staff then drew from a “test deck” of ballots, several of which had intentional errors. State law requires machines be tested to make sure they handle the errors. At the end, votes are tabulated and checked against the expected test results.
At the test Monday in Grand Rapids, everything checked out as expected.
Former Republican governor John Engler also observed the test, helping to confirm the results.
“This is a very intricate, involved process,” he said afterward. “Lots of people have eyes on this, and today all the tests that have run, the ones that I’ve watched, the tallies come out and they’re spot on. They’re accurate and very secure.”
Engler, a Republican, now works with the nonprofit Democracy Defense Foundation, which has a goal of restoring trust in elections.
Early voting begins Oct. 20 in Grand Rapids and across the state by Oct. 24. Absentee voting is already underway statewide.
The general election takes place Nov. 3.
