EDITORIAL

The Auditor General’s performance review of the Bureau of Elections released March 2022, is a small sample of how unsecured elections are in the State of Michigan, which is a national security risk. The fact that the Bureau of Elections did not reconcile the QVF and Drivers Licenses/State ID file which they are legally required to do, should have every Michigander concerned. Why didn’t Sec. Benson perform one of the most critical responsibilities that she is legally required to do, that ensures the accuracy of our elections by preventing illegal votes from being cast due to a corrupted voter registration data base?

What should also have every Michigander concerned, is that the Auditor General wanted to do a more thorough review of our elections, and AG Dana Nessel sought to intimidate the Auditor General from looking into how Sec. Benson is running Michigan’s elections. 

What are they hiding? 

The Auditor General also found that there were 45,000+ fewer votes cast in November 2020 than what Sec. Benson claims. Her repeated claim of completing 250+ “audits”, is also false, only 239 of these so-called “audits” were completed. These procedures Benson deceptively called “audits”, the Auditor General confirmed what many city, township and county clerks shared with me, “Many clerks did not understand the statistical sampling approach or how reviewing a small percentage of ballots could validate statewide election results.” Correct, because it can not!   

Sec. Benson making proclamations and the media parroting her proclamations stating that Michigan elections are secure, or bogus experts (who when their conclusions are scrutinized you find falsehoods or a money trail) repeating these proclamations, do not make them true. She will not provide sufficient evidence to validate her claims, and demonizes those requesting her to so.  

The Auditor General also found that the Bureau of Elections, “should improve its security configuration controls over EPB to help prevent, and detect inappropriate access and protect elector information from unauthorized use, disclosure, and modification.” Benson’s failure to fully secure the Electronic Pollbook (EPB), could assist nefarious actors who want to engage in ballot harvesting crimes and other election related crimes. 

Securing our elections is a matter of national security, and building secured systems, including structuring audits, requires they are structured with the assumption that corrupt groups will attempt to corrupt the election system by exploiting vulnerabilities. It is the duty of the Secretary of State to conduct audits on a level far greater than the superficial-observations she has labeled as 'audits.' This is why, I am running for Michigan Secretary of State. 

Our elections are how the governed give their consent, who you vote for isn’t my concern, securing our elections is required to ensure voters determined election outcomes not corruption.

Kristina Karamo  

Candidate for Sec. of State