Michigan Senate GOP probe: No systemic fraud in election
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — State Senate Republicans who investigated Michigan's 2020 presidential election for months concluded there was no widespread or systemic fraud and urged the state attorney general to consider probing people who have made baseless allegations about the results in Antrim County to raise money or publicity “for their own ends.”
The GOP-led state Senate Oversight Committee said in a 55-page report released Wednesday that citizens should be confident that the election's outcome represents the “true results.” Democrat Joe Biden defeated then-President Donald Trump by about 155,000 votes, or 2.8 percentage points, in the battleground state.
Trump and his allies have pushed debunked conspiracy theories and unfounded information about voter fraud.
“The committee strongly recommends citizens use a critical eye and ear toward those who have pushed demonstrably false theories for their own personal gain,” the panel wrote days after Republican activists requested an Arizona-style “forensic” audit of the election.
The committee's three Republicans did recommend legislation that would close "real vulnerabilities" in future elections. Election-related bills are pending, including proposed tougher photo ID rules that the Senate passed last week, but Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will veto them if they reach her desk.
Election night results in northern Michigan's rural Antrim County, which has roughly 23,000 residents, initially erroneously showed a local victory for Biden over Trump. But it was attributed to human error, not any problems with machines, and corrected. A hand recount turned up no signs of shenanigans.
“We will review the report in its entirety in order to determine if a criminal investigation is appropriate,” Lynsey Mukomel, spokeswoman for...