Are Dead People VOting?

Over the last few years, one of the gravest election concerns that has surfaced is the idea that "dead people" may be voting in Michigan elections. I took great interest in this possibility. 

As the Macomb County Clerk, I have insight on this issue and can share with you how we have addressed it. This example will set the stage for how I will address it as the Michigan Secretary of State. 

One of the biggest problems we have in securing Michigan elections is that the Michigan Secretary of State’s office is not actively reviewing the rolls for people who have passed away. Yes, you read that right.

There have been cases around America where "dead people" have had their vote counted in an election. This is not only wrong, it is unjust and criminal. 

As the Clerk of the third largest county in Michigan, I was curious how we could best safeguard our vote from this type of activity. 

The first thing we did after I was elected was take a close look at people’s age. We started with checking up on all voters that were over the age of 100. It turned out that Macomb County had over 600 people registered when we did the review who were over that age.

I do know that people are living longer. Medical science has advanced. Our county has just shy of three quarters of a million registered voters. I asked the team how accurate that number was.

Our team spent the next several weeks doing a deep dive into this situation. They reported back after tedious work of checking death certificates, reviewing obituaries, working with funeral homes and cemeteries, etc. 

The efforts proved fruitful. 

• Yes, they did find many people who are still living over 100 years 
• and YES they did find HUNDREDS of people who had passed away but were STILL on the voter rolls 

Now, HUNDREDS of people are being removed from the rolls in Macomb County. Some of these people should have been removed decades ago. 

We have more work to do, and are focused on this daily. We are checking the rolls in every way we can come up with. Our goal is simple - to have voter rolls with ONLY American Citizens who have registered properly - and call me crazy - are still alive. 

As your next Secretary of State, I will bring leadership to the office, and more importantly, results. 
We are going to clean up Michigan like we are doing in Macomb.