The Michigan Bureau of Elections should do more to ensure local election officials are trained in how to conduct post-election audits, Michigan Auditor General Doug Ringler said in a report released Friday.
And inadequate oversight and reporting of post-election audits resulted in the Bureau of Elections inaccurately reporting the scope and completion of those audits, the auditor found.
Shortfalls around training were the only “material condition” — the most serious type of finding — identified by the auditor, who works for the Michigan Legislature, in the highly anticipated 67-page report.
The audit found:
Of 83 county clerks completing post-election audits, 43, or 52%, had not viewed the related webinars or videos.
Of those 43 clerks, eight, or 19%, were not fully certified at the time of the post-election audit.
Of 22 other county election officials who conducted post-election audits, 13, or 59%, had not viewed the webinars or videos.
Of 361 assigned post-election audits, 31 were not submitted by county clerks to the state’s eLearningCenter, and 12 were never completed. Of the 330 reports that were submitted to the eLearning Center, 34 were submitted two to 47 days late.
The bureau did not ensure clerks hand counted ballots during the post-election audits, as required. For 40 of the 239 completed post-election audits, county clerks did not hand-count the U.S. Senate race ballots, as required. And in 12 of those 40 audits, hand counting did not occur for any race.