GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Does Michigan have extra voter registrations than eligible voters? An administrative quirk in voting information was the topic of a social media back-and-forth between Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
The quick reply is sure — there are extra voter registrations than voting-aged residents in Michigan. Nevertheless it’s nothing nefarious: Federal regulation requires a multiyear delay earlier than inactive voters could also be purged from the voter roll, the state says.
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THE EXCHANGE
It began Saturday when Musk took to X — the social media platform previously generally known as Twitter, however rebranded after Musk’s takeover — to ask the neighborhood a couple of publish that claimed Michigan had extra registered voters than eligible voters.
“Michigan has more registered voters than eligible citizens!? Is that true @CommunityNotes?” Musk wrote.
Hours later, Benson responded with a publish of her personal.
“Let’s be clear: (Musk) is spreading dangerous disinformation. Here are the facts: There aren’t more voters than citizens in Michigan. There are 7.2 million active registered voters and 7.9 (million) citizens of voting age in our state,” she wrote. “Musk is pushing a misleading number that includes 1.2 million inactive records slated for removal in accordance with the law.”
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The following day, Musk fired again.
“Jocelyn Michelle Benson, shame on you for blatantly lying to the public!” he wrote. “You only plan to remove the ineligible voters AFTER this election. That necessarily means that there are far more people registered to vote than there eligible voters.”
In her reply, Benson directed readers to the State of Michigan Election Reality Middle.
Musk responded by asking whether or not she was eradicating the ineligible voters earlier than the election.
Benson once more pointed to the actual fact middle, citing the voter registration cancellation procedures.
SO WHAT ARE THE FACTS?
The fact of the scenario is considerably advanced. Data from the state signifies that there are extra voter registrations than residents of voting age, however lots of the “extras” are inactive and might be canceled as quickly as legally allowed. There will not be extra individuals actively voting than there are residents, Benson stated.
In response to the the state’s voter registration statistics, as of Tuesday, Michigan has about 8,444,000 registered voters. In the meantime, the state’s voting-age inhabitants hovers round 7.9 million — leaving a niche of roughly 544,000 registrations.
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Benson stated there are solely about 7.2 million energetic registered voters within the state, which is nicely beneath the state’s voting-aged inhabitants.
Nonetheless, it is true that there are extra voter registrations than residents of voting age in Michigan — however the state says these inactive registrations might be canceled. In response to the voter registration statistics, about 339,000 inactive registrations are slated for cancellation in 2025, and about 258,000 extra inactive registrations are slated for cancellation in 2027. That is a complete of roughly 597,000 cancellations by 2027.
Why cannot these inactive registrations be canceled now? It comes right down to the regulation. When the Bureau of Elections will get preliminary info {that a} voter might have moved — like election mail being marked as “undeliverable,” or an individual surrendering their Michigan driver’s license in a unique state — then the Bureau will ship a cancellation discover to the deal with the place the voter was registered in Michigan.
“If the voter does not respond and does not have any voting activity by the second even-year November federal election following the notice, the voter’s registration is cancelled,” the state’s web site reads. “After the notice is sent, the voter is marked inactive and can still vote until the cancellation occurs.”
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On this scenario, state and federal regulation requires a ready interval of two federal election cycles earlier than the registration can formally be canceled, the Election Reality Middle says.
The rationale behind the ready interval is easy, in accordance with the state’s web site: The state should not cancel a registration unexpectedly as a result of typically, preliminary info {that a} voter might have moved doesn’t suggest they really modified their voting residency. A bit of mail might have been marked “undeliverable” by mistake, for instance, or an individual could also be residing elsewhere briefly — for college, navy service or short-term work — however nonetheless need to vote in Michigan. If so, the ready interval offers the voter an opportunity to maintain their registration.
Since 2019, the state says native clerks and the Bureau of Elections have canceled over 800,000 voter registrations: 532,513 of people that have died, 273,609 of people that acquired a cancellation discover and didn’t reply or vote inside the two-cycle ready interval and 16,716 of people that requested that their registration be canceled.
With over 550,000 cancellations of inactive registrations slated for 2025 or 2027, the state defined that this quantity is greater than it has been in earlier years “in part because Secretary Benson sent election mail to every registered voter in 2020” — the primary statewide election mailing in a couple of decade. When mail was marked undeliverable, the state was in a position to ship a discover of cancellation forward of the 2022 election — however due to the legally required ready interval, the registrations could not be canceled instantly.
REMOVING THE DEAD FROM THE VOTER ROLLS
The state and native clerks additionally work collectively regularly to take away the useless from the voter rolls. Ottawa County Clerk Justin Roebuck beforehand informed Information 8 that this occurs in three important methods.
First, county clerks obtain dying information, look them up within the voter file and flag them for rapid cancellation by the native clerk.
“Every single month, county clerks have to do this. And then as it gets closer to the election, it’s every two weeks and then every week and then every day,” Roebuck stated. “The closer to the election, the more we have to do it. In practice, we just do it every day.”
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Second, dying notices are acquired on the state degree every week.
“So that’s every voter in the state of Michigan pinging against the Social Security Administration for deceased voters,” Roebuck stated. “And so that’s a big way that deceased voters are removed.”
Lastly, he stated, native clerks learn obituaries from their communities and take away voters accordingly.
“They’re checking the newspaper,” Roebuck stated. “That’s the triple check in the system.”
