With Michigan’s Tuesday primaries looming on the horizon, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) is preparing for the very real possibility that rogue canvassers may try to hijack the election certification process on the basis of voter fraud lies.
Amid a troubling trend of Michigan county Republicans quietly replacing election board canvassers who voted to certify Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the state, Benson told the Detroit News in an interview that was published on Sunday that her office was “ready for anything at this point.”
“Any attempts to block the certification of our elections, regardless of the results, will be futile,” the elections official said. “We are confident that the courts will swiftly enforce the law and that at the end of the day, the will of the people will stand.”
Benson said that her office has been making sure canvassers understand that they’re legally obligated to allow the certification process to proceed uninterrupted.
As another safeguard, Benson’s office has also drawn up a “Poll Worker’s Code of Conduct” to prevent a repeat of the chaos brought on by Trump supporters that exploded at Detroit’s convention center the day after the 2020 election as workers were trying to count absentee ballots.
And Benson is ready to get the authorities involved to ensure the code of conduct gets enforced.
“If it is not (followed), we are in touch with local law enforcement, as well as local clerks, to ensure that any disruptions or illegal activity is dealt with swiftly, so we can minimize any potential impact … on the elections,” she told the Detroit News.
