elections

In the Media

Michigan Clerk Faces Recall Election After 2020 Election Controversy

May 1, 2023 NBC News Meet the Press Now

Adams Township clerk Stephanie Scott is facing a recall election and investigation over accusations of mishandling election materials during the 2020 election. “What happened here in Adams Township Michigan could happen anywhere,” said NBC News...

In the Media

This year’s ballot measures will change how many Americans vote

Dec 15, 2022 The Center for Public Integrity

In states across the country, voters weighed in on voting, impacting voter ID, early voting and who can vote in local...

In the Media

A retrospect on the new redistricting process for Michigan voters

Dec 7, 2022 The Michigan Daily

On Nov. 30th, the Ford School of Public Policy held an event to discuss Michigan’s new citizen-led redistricting process and its impacts on the midterm election, the first election since new lines were drawn in December 2021. The meeting was...

News

Michigan local leaders give high marks on the state of local democracy while federal outlook remains grim

Nov 16, 2022

Michigan local leaders are generally optimistic about how democracy is functioning in their jurisdictions, but are far less praiseworthy about the national picture, according to a new University of Michigan report. When asked to rate the...

New law on data transparency will improve governance - Leiser

In the Media

Fact check: False claim Michigan's Proposal 2 would allow felons to vote from prison

Nov 7, 2022 USA Today

Voters around the country will be making decisions on an array of candidates and issues in the 2022 midterm election on Nov. 8. One viral Instagram post urges Michigan voters to vote against a ballot proposal that it characterized as a threat to...

In the Media

Former Legislators Back Term Limits Changes

Nov 2, 2022 Gongwer

A survey of 110 former legislators shows overwhelming support for changing or abolishing term limits. The survey, which was conducted in 2020 and 2021 by Rusty Hills, a longtime Republican strategist now a lecturer at the University of Michigan Ford...

In the Media

Former legislators broadly favor reforming or ending term limits

Nov 2, 2022 University Record

As voters in Michigan consider a ballot measure to change the state’s legislative term limits, a survey of former legislators shows overwhelming support for reforming or abolishing the limits. The survey, conducted in 2020 and 2021 by Rusty Hills, a...

In the Media

Fair elections on the ballot - Ivacko

Oct 31, 2022 CBC

CBC: Tom Ivacko at the University of Michigan says the fair administration of elections is absolutely an election issue this fall. Yet it's unclear how many Americans care: Ivacko noted polls indicating that 70 per cent view democracy as under...

In the Media

Meet the election deniers on the cusp of controlling U.S. elections

Oct 31, 2022 CBC

Let's try imagining what the next U.S. presidential election might look like. It's 2024. It's been a bitter, hard-fought campaign. Votes are being...

MPPS in the news

Commentary: Political violence has no place in our elections

Oct 24, 2022 Crain's Detroit Business

Elections are contentious, but in recent years they have gotten uglier, with the rise in political violence polluting our...

MPPS in the news

Study finds many election workers feel harassed. Here's what local officials say

Oct 24, 2022 Livingston Daily

The findings are contained in the spring results from the Michigan Public Policy Survey, a regular poll of all 1,856 local governments in the...

MPPS in the news

Survey examines election security, disinformation

Oct 12, 2022 Michigan Today

Michigan township and city officials are now even more confident in their jurisdiction’s election security and ability to administer an accurate election than when asked a similar question in 2020, when confidence was already high, according to...

In the Media

Conspiracy theorists flood the election process, set sights on monitoring ballot drop boxes

Oct 4, 2022 Raw Story

In the 2020 presidential election, there were upwards of 150 poll workers in Detroit. Then came the onslaught of right-wing conspiracy theories and lies that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump – and the baseless claim...

MPPS in the news

Conspiracy theorists flood the election process, set sights on monitoring ballot drop boxes

Oct 3, 2022 KPVI NBC TV 6

In the 2020 presidential election, there were upwards of 150 poll workers in...

In the Media

Our Elections: Trust

Sep 26, 2022 Presidential Prayer Team

In their book, Our Broken Elections, by John Fund and Hans Von Spakovsky, published in 2021, they begin, “It’s clear that Americans are separated not just by political disagreements but by a basic difference in how we regard...

MPPS in the news

New U of M survey finds high election confidence among local Michigan officials

Sep 23, 2022 Michigan Radio

The University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy (CLOSUP) surveyed 1,856 local governments in Michigan about confidence in midterm election security. 85% of respondents said they are “very confident” that their jurisdiction’s...

MPPS in the news

State of the State Podcast - segment on election administration findings from the MPPS

Sep 23, 2022 MSU IPPSR State of the State Podcast

IPPSR's State of the State podcast had Debra Horner on to review findings from the Spring 2022 MPPS survey on local leaders' views about the upcoming November 2022...

MPPS in the news

Like democracy, election workers are under assault with many fearing for the future

Sep 15, 2022 Michigan Advance

They are considered “essential” to ensuring the success of elections, and yet almost a third of election workers are believed to have left their job at least in part because of fears for their safety, increased threats or...

In the Media

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson Gears up for a Reelection Fight

Feb 8, 2022 Hour Detroit

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has a different, possibly truly novel reason for refusing to say whether she’d run for governor or some other job in 2026 if she wins a second four-year term in 2022: She’s not entirely sure American...

In the Media

Ivacko weighs in on 2022 Secretary of State election

Feb 7, 2022 HOUR Detroit

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is preparing for the 2022 election. So far, her Republican opponents don't seem viable based on their extreme views. “If the GOP nominates QAnon conspiracy theorists, Benson will have an easier path...

Ivacko on federal infrastructure dollars in Michigan

CLOSUP Updates

MPPS Report: Michigan local officials' assessments of American democracy at the state and federal levels decline sharply

Nov 17, 2021

A new report from the Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS) presents local government leaders’ views regarding the functioning of democracy in their jurisdictions, the State of Michigan, and the United States as a whole, as well as their confidence...

CLOSUP Updates

MPPS Report: Michigan local leaders expect increased challenges for the 2020 election, but are confident about administering accurate elections

Oct 5, 2020

This report presents the opinions of Michigan’s township and city officials on issues related to election administration in their jurisdictions, including expected challenges and confidence in election security. Data from a parallel survey of...

News

Michigan local government leaders back expanded absentee voting, ballot reforms

Jul 28, 2020

Amid the national debate over the safety and efficacy of absentee voting, Michigan can offer an example of how election reforms will play out in the 2020 election. And the battleground state's local officials have an overall positive outlook about...

Michigan local government leaders back expanded absentee voting, ballot reforms

In the Media

Michigan Government in Transition panel talks transition from campaign to governing

Sep 29, 2019 The Michigan Daily

The Domestic Policy Corps and the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy held a Governor Transition Leaders Panel Friday afternoon at the Ford School of Public Policy.. The event featured six speakers, all of whom worked on various Michigan...

News

John Chamberlin responds to criticisms of Michigan’s Proposal 2

Oct 11, 2018

With Michigan’s upcoming election, commentary around the ballot’s Proposal 2, which would establish a citizen’s commission responsible for creating voting district lines, has run the gamut. In the October 10, 2018, piece for Bridge titled “5...