- US Department of Justice indicates plans to send election monitors to Detroit, Lansing and East Lansing for the Aug. 4 primary
- Federal monitors routinely observe elections, but Democratic officials raise alarms over ‘baseless accusations’ about state elections
- The Trump administration has been ramping up scrutiny of Michigan elections by demanding voter rolls and records
LANSING — The US Department of Justice intends to send election monitors to polling places in three Michigan cities during the Aug. 4 primary, a federal spokesperson confirmed Tuesday.
In late June letters to Detroit, Lansing and East Lansing, the DOJ requested various documents and outlined the planned federal oversight, according to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office.
While federal monitors typically observe elections in dozens of communities each cycle, the three Michigan cities that the Trump administration will monitor in August are Democratic strongholds, and Nessel raised alarms over what her office called “baseless accusations” by the DOJ.
“The courts have been clear time and time again: states run elections, not the federal government,” Nessel, a Democrat, said in a statement.
“We encourage everyone to participate and see for themselves how secure and fair our elections are – but make no mistake, my office stands ready to hold accountable those who attempt to unlawfully interfere with or intimidate Michigan election workers.”
Related:
- Whitmer on Trump election take over talk: ‘Won’t happen on my watch’
- Republicans ask DOJ to oversee Michigan’s 2026 election. Dems cry foul
- Jocelyn Benson unveils ‘firewall’ for election oversight, governor run
A DOJ spokesperson downplayed the planned oversight, noting that Detroit, Lansing and East Lansing have each “received Civil Rights Division monitors in past elections under previous administrations as well.”
Federal officials have been ramping up scrutiny of Michigan elections amid President Donald Trump’s continued claims the 2020 presidential election he lost was rigged against him.
The DOJ in April demanded 2024 election records from Wayne County, home to Detroit, but local officials responded by saying the county does not maintain those records, which are instead kept by municipalities.
The DOJ has also sued Michigan for unredacted voter rolls after Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson refused to hand over what she called personally identifying voter information to the federal government. A federal appeals court panel sided with Benson last month, but some experts believe the case could reach the US Supreme Court.
Early this year, Trump said he thinks federal authorities should “nationalize” elections by taking over in Detroit and other parts of the country where he claimed there was “horrible corruption.”
Benson, the state’s top election official who is now seeking the Democratic nomination for governor, on Monday accused the DOJ of pursuing “baseless allegations to confuse voters” but said Michigan will “welcome anyone who wants to — in compliance with the law — observe Michigan’s elections process.”
“When they do, they will see what we already know to be true — Michigan’s professional local clerks are committed to ensuring our elections are safe, accessible, and fair,” Benson said.
Last fall, nearly two dozen Michigan Republicans asked the DOJ to oversee state elections this year.
“Proud to have led the charge in requesting DOJ oversight of Michigan’s election,” Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt, R-Porter Township, wrote Monday night on social media.
Nesbitt and other Republicans argued Benson cannot be trusted to oversee elections because she has “an inherent and unavoidable conflict of interest” because she is running for governor.
Benson in May unveiled a “firewall” to recuse herself from all decisions and administrative tasks that have a direct impact on the gubernatorial election.
Michigan has a decentralized election system in which local clerks in more than 1,500 municipalities administer elections. Votes are tallied by localities fbefore being sent to counties, which report those totals to the state.
This article first appeared on Bridge Michigan and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.