Michigan’s attorney general is reiterating that people should have confidence in the state’s elections.
Absentee voting in Michigan’s November general election began last month.
But Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said officials have been planning how to handle any possible disruptions for months.
“We want to make sure people know that it’s safe to vote, their votes are secure and that we have an accurate and democratic representation of votes cast,” Nessel said in an interview Tuesday.
Nessel said her office has been working with the governor’s team, state police, and election officials on “table-top exercises” to prepare for anything that could go wrong.
That’s as President Donald Trump continues to promote unproven claims about vote-rigging ahead of next month’s midterm elections. In a recent interview with Time Magazine, Trump didn’t rule out declaring a state of emergency in the lead-up.
Nessel said officials are preparing other briefs for everything from power outages to military troops at the polls.
“It could be the ones that we’re hearing the most about — federal agents or ICE being at the polls — or you have people who come to the polls who are disruptive in nature, or they plan to try to intimidate voters, or discourage people from not voting who are eligible voters,” Nessel said.
Voting has been relatively quiet in Michigan since 2020, when lies about the election being stolen fueled turmoil around its certification.
During this year's August primary election, federal monitors came to East Lansing, Lansing, Hamtramck, and Detroit. State officials said their presence didn’t cause any interruptions.
The Michigan Department of State Tuesday said it wasn’t aware of any future plans to send federal monitors to Michigan for the general election.
