(The Center Square) – Michigan’s second-ranking Republican in the state House of Representatives wants Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to investigate noncitizens who might vote in state and federal elections.
House Speaker Pro Tem Rachelle Smit, R-Shelbyville, raised concerns after Benson told a U.S. House committee last fall that there was no evidence of noncitizens voting in Michigan but last week released a report that showed 15 actually did.
“It’s deeply troubling to me that our secretary of state told Congress that noncitizens weren’t voting in our elections just a couple months before November,” Smit said. “Now she admits they are voting in our elections, and at least 15 of them had their ballots tabulated and counted. That’s 15 Michigan taxpaying residents who had their votes illegally cancelled out by people who shouldn’t have been at the polls to begin with.”
Last week, Benson released results of a review of Michigan motor vehicle records compared to voting records that showed 15 people who may not be U.S. citizens voted in the 2024 general election.
Benson referred 13 of those to Nessel for potential criminal charges, while one is still being investigated, and one person has died.
The 15 votes were part of 5.7 million in Michigan in the 2024 presidential election, or 0.00028% of the total votes cast.
She called the issue a serious one that needs “addressed with a scalpel and not a sledgehammer.”
Smit, a former township clerk who administered elections for seven years, said citizenship should be mandatory to vote and the rolls should be cleaned.
“Proof of citizenship should absolutely be required to vote in our elections, and I am sure the vast majority of my fellow election clerks would agree,” Smit said. “Secretary Benson and her team should complete a thorough review of our voter rolls and ensure that only living U.S. citizens, who reside in Michigan, are able to validly cast a vote at the polls in the future. Our nation is only sovereign if our elections are secure and subject only to our citizens.”
