Ingham’s fifth re-audit again confirms result of never-ending 2020 election

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The 2020 General Election seems to be never-ending for for Ingham County Officials. On Oct. 8, the Michigan Auditor General’s Office notified several Michigan counties, including Ingham County, that they would have to re-audit the 2020 General Election results. The results have been confirmed — again.

This marks the fifth time Ingham County’s election results have been evaluated. The ballots have twice been canvassed and certified before undergoing two audits. In none of those evaluations was any discrepancy found in the election results.

This new round of audits comes with added controversy as Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said the auditor general does not have the authority to conduct audits at the county level.

Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum said the auditor general’s office has found a workaround to the attorney general’s decision by going through the Secretary of State. Byrum said she was not surprised the results of the re-audit remained the same.

“Doing the same thing and getting a different result is the definition of insanity, and that is what we are dealing with here,” Byrum said.

The re-audit was focused on Precinct Three in Delhi Township, the same precinct as the first audit ordered under state statute.

Delhi Township Clerk Evan Hope said the re-audit was unnecessary for what the auditor general’s office was asking for.

He said, “A simple questionnaire or interview could have answered their questions.”

Hope said he was told that a re-audit was needed to rebuild public trust in the election process. Hope said the people complaining about lack of faith in elections were the same people who began planting seeds of doubt in them in the first place.

Nancy Wang, executive director of Voters Not Politicians, said the organization opposes politically driven calls for audits in Michigan. Voters Not Politicians is dedicated to restoring political power to the people. Among the organization’s core tenets are voting access and government accountability.

Wang said there was no evidence of voter fraud caught by voting laws already in place.

“Elected officials should not be pursuing actions that give credence to disproven conspiracy theories.”

Nancy Wang, Voters Not Politicians

Despite no evidence of widespread voter fraud in Michigan, rallies continue around the state with calls for recounts and re-audits of the 2020 election. Clerk Byrum said she does not see an end to these challenges to the 2020 election until politicians from both parties speak out against these false claims.

She said, “I don’t think it’s going to stop until elected officials, specifically those Republicans, start standing up to their base, and telling their base what some of them may not want to hear, and that is our elections are safe and secure and properly run.”

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