DETROIT — Surprise Visitor on Election Day
Following the recent discovery of a Chinese national casting a vote in the Michigan election on Nov. 5, with the vote being deemed valid, Republicans have raised concerns about election security.
Former Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, now a Republican state senator, expressed the party’s apprehensions, pointing out that nearly 35,000 individuals have registered to vote in 2024 whose information does not align with Social Security records.
“So far this year, 34,535 individuals have provided details that do not match any records in the Social Security database,” said Johnson, representing Holly. “This significant increase from previous years is very concerning to me.”
Johnson mentioned that during her tenure as secretary of state from 2011 to 2019, the number of such discrepancies was 54.
In just five years, Michigan has seen a drastic rise from 54 to nearly 35,000 cases of voter records not aligning with the Social Security database.
Both Democrats and Republicans are closely monitoring the swing state. In 2016, Donald Trump won in Michigan by approximately 10,000 votes over Hillary Clinton, but in 2020, he lost by around 154,000 votes to Joe Biden.
Johnson recalled that during her time, voter registration requests were cross-checked with the US Department of Homeland Security to ensure that only citizens were participating in the voting process.
Since then, Michigan has implemented same-day voter registration. The illegal voter in Ann Arbor, a University of Michigan student, registered and voted on the same day.
“We currently lack a system to verify the eligibility of individuals registering or voting,” Johnson added. “The only reason the UM student was caught was because he requested his ballot back from the clerk.”
State Sen. Lana Theis, another Republican legislator, echoed concerns about election security in Michigan. She emphasized that the issue can only be rectified through a voter-approved state constitutional amendment.
“We will need to propose another ballot measure that overrides the decisions made in 2018 and 2022, so we can enforce ID requirements and citizenship verification, which is what voters originally supported,” Theis stated to The Post.
Michigan’s voter rolls have continuously been inflated under Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. Although there are approximately 7.8 million eligible voters in Michigan, there are 8.4 million registered voters. Republicans have attempted to reduce the voter rolls by eliminating deceased or relocated individuals through legal action against Benson, but these efforts have been unsuccessful.
Since the illegal voter participated in early voting rather than absentee voting, the vote was counted. By the time the individual reported himself to election officials, it was too late to retract the vote.
As of Election Day, 2.106 million Michiganders had voted absentee, and another 1.215 million had participated in early voting, totaling 3.321 million voters. To match the 2020 voting count of 5.539 million voters, Michigan needs an additional 2.218 million Election Day voters.
Polling expert Nate Silver highlighted that a victory for the former president in Michigan would almost guarantee a nationwide win.
For the third consecutive election cycle, Trump concluded his presidential campaign in Michigan with a speech in Grand Rapids.
Johnson ran against Benson in 2010, won, and served as secretary of state for two terms. Benson won the 2018 election and was re-elected in 2022.
Benson’s office did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
