A tale of two realities: Michigan elections vs. GOP misinformation

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A tale of two realities: Michigan elections vs. GOP misinformation

Jon King
May 5, 2026


(Michigan Advance) As the 2026 gubernatorial race heats up, Michigan Republicans are raising alarms about Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson overseeing elections as she herself runs for governor. This has become a familiar refrain from the partisan Republican playbook: sow doubt, stir fear and hope confusion spreads faster than facts.

Yet the reality on the ground couldn’t be clearer, or more to the point, boringly procedural.

Michigan’s elections are decentralized by design. Municipal clerks run the show, from ballot preparation to vote tabulation. The bureaucratic reality, outlined by longtime election officials like former Michigan Director of Elections Chris Thomas, is that Benson has neither the authority nor the operational role to manipulate outcomes. It’s the bipartisan Board of State Canvassers that handles election certification, not the secretary.

There’s a reason that particular body consists of exactly four members; two Republicans and two Democrats. It requires bipartisan consensus so that no one party official, no matter what their position, can unilaterally dictate an outcome. One need only look at the last attempt to do just that, when President Donald Trump himself brought tremendous pressure to bear to try and prevent certification of Wayne County’s 2020 vote totals, which overwhelmingly favored Joe Biden. And yet, the system held. ........................(more)

https://michiganadvance.com/2026/05/05/a-tale-of-two-realities-michigan-elections-vs-gop-misinformation/