DETROIT (WWJ) – Former President Donald Trump took to social media on Tuesday, claiming there was a “large” amount of absentee voter fraud happening in Detroit on Election Day.
"The Absentee Ballot situation in Detroit is REALLY BAD," Trump wrote on his Truth Social account, according to a report from Business Insider. "People are showing up to Vote only to be told 'sorry, you have already voted.' This is happening in large numbers, elsewhere as well. Protest, Protest, Protest!"
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who is running for re-election Tuesday, was quick to respond.
“This isn’t true. Please don’t spread lies to foment or encourage political violence in our state. Or anywhere. Thanks,” she said in a tweet
Officials in Detroit said there were some minor problems at a few precincts Tuesday morning in which e-pollbooks – the laptops used at polling places to confirm voters are registered and that they have not already voted absentee – had displayed error messages reporting some voters had already cast absentee ballots.
The Detroit Clerk’s office said after confirming each voter was registered and had not been issued an absentee ballot, poll workers provided a numbered ballot to each voter.
“Occasionally this morning, some e-pollbooks then displayed an error message stating that the number on the ballot at the polling place was the same as the number on an absentee ballot that had already been issued, even though the voter had not actually voted absentee,” the Department of State’s office said on Twitter. “When this occurred, voters were correctly checked in on a paper backup list and issued ballots that were cast by the voters. These ballots will be counted.”
Officials said whether using the electronic pollbook or the paper backup, “procedures are in place to ensure a voter casts only one ballot."
"The voters were always able to vote," said Jake Rollow with the SOS office. "If they wanted to, they were handed a provisional ballot, and those provisional ballots will be counted. So, at no point was there any inability to process a voter who showed up while that...issue had not yet been resolved."
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Rollow said during an update to the media Tuesday at 5 p.m. he wasn't worried that Trump had told people to protest.
"Our offices, clerks' offices, including the Detroit City Clerk's office, have been in touch with law enforcement at the local, state and federal levels for many months in expectation that there may be attempts to disrupt the election, the counting process, anything of that sort," Rollow said. "We have been prepared for this long before the former president issued his statement."
Rollow also told reporters Tuesday there were two reported incidents of apparent voter intimidation, including one person in Detroit who was standing in the hallway at the Edison School in Detroit, telling people at the polls that they “didn't look like they were eligible to vote.” The person was removed and no one turned away because of his actions.
In Ann Arbor, a person was challenging every person who surrendered an absentee ballot to vote in person. That is allowed under the law.
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