Opinion | Michigan deserves smooth, lawful election certification

For generations, “election certification” drew little public attention. Election certifiers understood their role as necessarily administrative and did what the law requires of them: declare the winners determined after rigorous checks and balances are complete. 

Since 2020, however, election certifiers have faced public pressure from partisan activists who want their side to win at all costs and even bend the law to get their way. We saw this in May in Delta County when, after a recall election, some members of the county board of canvassers refused to certify the results. Three days later, they reversed course, but only after the state election director stepped in to remind them their role was non-discretionary under the state constitution.

As Ottawa County clerk for the last decade, it’s my job to build the public trust in our elections. I take that job very seriously, which is why I am so proud of our rigorous system of checks and balances and local poll workers and administrators from our communities who faithfully carry out their duties. 

In Michigan, bipartisan teams of election workers at the local, county, and state level go through a meticulous process to ensure the accuracy and integrity of our elections. From identity verification to the accounting of ballots, all the way through to the final certification of results - including recounts in close elections, they confirm that every legal ballot is counted as voters intended them. Following certification, rigorous post-election audits are conducted that include a hand count verification of the accuracy of the vote count.

These checks and balances also apply to absentee ballots.  For example, verification steps are followed to confirm that each voter is registered within the jurisdiction before a ballot is sent to voters by their clerk, and the signature on every returned ballot is inspected to ensure it matches the voters’ signature on file.  Absentee ballots are always counted in bipartisan teams, and the counting process is open to observers.

Importantly, the results are only officially declared after election officials have triple checked them for accuracy and resolved any potential errors. 

In other words, certification serves a purely administrative function: to issue “certificates of election” to the winners of various races. 

After elections, people do have a right to challenge the results. But those challenges require proof in a court of law. And the law is very clear: those who certify our elections do not have the authority to conduct investigations or challenge processes outside of their scope of responsibility. Recent attempts to delay or refuse certification of election results, like we saw in Delta County earlier this year, have all ultimately failed for one reason: that’s not their job. 

This November, the stakes could not be higher. No matter the outcome, let’s stand up for the rule of law, defend our democratic principles, and protect our rigorous system of checks and balances that have made America’s democracy a model to the world.