Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson Says Evidence Is ‘Abundantly Clear’ Results of 2020 Election Were Accurate
Michigan’s top election official explains that 250-plus audits conducted by 1,300 clerks — the largest audit in the state’s history — reconfirm Biden won the November presidential election.
It’s been four months since the November election, and we are still living through the largest disinformation campaign targeting our electoral system. Some Republican officials still refuse to accept the results of the election. But as of last week, state and local clerks have finished 250 audits of the election, confirming what election officials and independent experts have been saying for months: The 2020 election was the most secure and well-administered election we’ve ever seen in Michigan.
“The evidence is now abundantly clear that the results of the election were accurate and we are calling on all leaders to acknowledge that.” — Jocelyn Benson, Michigan Secretary of State
Listen: Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson on the election, the audits and what happens next.
Guest:
Jocelyn Benson is Secretary of State for the state of Michigan. On recalling this time last year, which was around the time the first COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Michigan, Benson recalls that it was the primary election on March 10. “We were intending to learn from voter behavior that day … so we could prepare for November. Polls closed at 8, I did a presser at 9:15 … I felt good. And then I got back to my office, and my chief of staff walked in and said, ‘The governor is about to announce the first two cases of the coronavirus’ … and everything changed.”
In looking at the audits that were just completed concerning the November presidential election, Benson notes that it was the largest audit in state history and was conducted by more than 1,300 clerks across the state. She explains that clerks examined the paper ballots, the machines, and looked at the procedures that were followed on Election Day. “It confirmed that all ballots were accurately counted … at this point … the evidence is now abundantly clear that the results of the election were accurate and we are calling on all leaders to acknowledge that,” says Benson.
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