Local officials across Michigan have maintained high confidence in election security and accuracy over the past several years.
A soon-to-be released survey from the University of Michigan shows city and township officials-including those who conduct elections-continue to be highly confident in the integrity of election administration. In fact, the findings show an uptick from already high levels of confidence cited by respondents in 2020 and 2022.
As prominent state and federal leaders claim election vulnerabilities without evidence or proof of interference or manipulation of votes cast in 2020 and since, here are some findings-past and present-from the Michigan Public Policy Survey:
- Statewide in 2020, 87% of township and city officials were very confident in their jurisdiction's ability to administer an accurate election that coming November. Regarding election security issues, large majorities were "very confident" final vote results (76%), voting machines (70%) and voter rolls (68%) would not be compromised in the November election.
- In 2022, township and city officials were even more confident in their jurisdiction's election security and ability to administer an accurate election than they were when asked a similar question in 2020. Regarding election security, 85% were very confident their jurisdiction's final vote results, voting machines and voter rolls would not be compromised. Just 2% were not very or not at all confident.
- The percentage of local officials anticipating problems regarding poll worker errors, equipment malfunctions and voter registration list inaccuracies all decreased substantially between 2020 and 2022 and remain low in 2026.
- For 2026, 92% say they are very confident about administering an accurate election in November, and less than 1% say they are not very or not at all confident. The full report is scheduled to be released next month.
When it comes to election security, those conducting the survey note that decentralization is a strength, and Michigan's elections are managed locally in more than 1,500 different cities and townships.
"Across the state, in places large and small, deep red and deep blue, the public servants who actually do the daily work to register voters, handle ballots and tally results are telling us, 'Relax, we've got this,'" said Debra Horner, the survey's senior program manager.
The Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy at U-M's Ford School of Public Policy conducts the survey each spring. The 2026 edition gathered information between March and June, through its census survey of 1,856 general purpose local governments statewide.
