For the first time in eight years, Michiganders will choose a new person to lead Michigan’s Secretary of State’s office.
For a largely bureaucratic job, issuing driver's licenses and overseeing elections, the office has become increasingly controversial.
About a hundred people gathered at a race track in Saginaw County's Birch Run Saturday to hear from Republican candidates. They applauded when Anthony Forlini’s name was announced. But the stage remained empty. For a while. Until —
“Sorry about that,” Forlini said as he hustled to the stage, “I heard I was introduced already. I wanted to be introduced twice, so that’s perfect.”
Anthony Forlini is the Macomb County clerk. He’s also the Republican running for secretary of state.
The 64-year-old former state lawmaker said he sees transparency as a problem in the Secretary of State’s office.
Forlini pointed to the recent Board of State Canvassers rejection of a proposed state constitutional amendment to require Michigan voters to prove their citizenship.
He questioned why state staffers said a sample portion of the petition signatures fell a handful of valid signatures short.
“C'mon, let’s wake up, guys,” Forlini said, “This is what’s going on, that’s the secretary of state’s office.”
The Michigan Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court both declined to intervene and put the question on the November ballot.
Still the rejection has become a rallying cry for Michigan Republicans
Democratic candidate Garlin Gilchrist was also rallying support this past weekend. And his primary target was not his Republican opponent.
“I will not let Donald Trump hijack our democracy as the next secretary of state of Michigan,” Gilchrist told a cheering crowd inside a Detroit union hall Sunday.
Gilchrist has spent the past eight years serving as Michigan’s Lieutenant Governor. Prior to that, the 44-year-old Gilchrist worked as a software engineer.
Despite Forlini’s complaints, at a recent debate Gilchrist insisted Michigan elections have been proven to be secure and accurate.
“Lawsuit after lawsuit after dozens of lawsuits, audits after audits after dozens of audits, the people of Michigan need to be able to trust that process,” said Gilchrist.
“I will stand tall for the will of the people and make sure that will is respected and protected," Gilchrist said. "Regardless of outcome, this is our job as secretary of state and I will make sure our elections can work securely and accurately.”
However, at that same debate, Forlini said he’d confront concerns about election integrity.
“We want to make sure there are protocols put in place,” Forlini said, “I’m the only one up here that’s run an election. I’m the only one up here that’s secured elections. I’m the only one up here that made elections more transparent. I’m not afraid of the boogeyman.”
But Gilchrist pointed at conspiracy theorists as the real threat to Michigan’s elections.
“They make this whole system of elections less safe. They make it less secure. They make more people have more questions than answers,” said Gilchrist.
Michigan elections have not been without issues.
There have been a few cases where people voted twice in the same election and a handful of individuals who tried to vote even though they were ineligible. There have also been technical problems that delayed results and led to critics claiming election fraud.
Corwin Smidt is a political science professor at Michigan State University. He studies parties, campaigns and elections, and he said Michigan elections have been “a lot of fun lately.”
“I have this problem when people are wrong, I want to figure out what’s right," Smidt said. "A lot of people [have been] wrong on Michigan lately,” said Smidt.
Despite the widely reported missteps, Michigan’s system of running elections actually compares very well with those in other states, he said.
But Smidt said problems will likely continue no matter who wins in November.
“Those are not just because of who’s the administrator, but also because of what our laws are like,” said Smidt, “Secretary of state or local clerk are charged to run these laws. And so they’re stuck with what we have.”
In the end, Smidt said surveys show complaints about “election integrity” tend to usually arise from those on the losing side of an election.
Voters have until November 3 to make their choice for Michigan secretary of state.
And complaints about the results will likely begin November 4.
