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Former State Senator Patrick Kolbeck tells committee Michigan election records need greater transparency and audits
Summary
Patrick Kolbeck, a former Michigan state senator, told the House Committee on Election Integrity that precinct-level records, the Qualified Voter File transaction log and other data are necessary to verify election accuracy and integrity. He urged subpoenas, federal investigations and stricter audit and chain-of-custody rules.
Former Michigan state Sen. Patrick Kolbeck told the Michigan House Committee on Election Integrity that a full set of precinct-level election records, the Qualified Voter File (QVF) transaction log and other documents are needed to determine whether recent elections were “accurate and conducted with integrity.”
Kolbeck testified that the basic records needed to cross-check results are the number of voters, the number of ballots cast, the list of voters, ballot images or ballots, cast vote records and election results for each voting method (in-person election-day, absentee, and early voting). “For the general public to have confidence in the results of a given election, each of these election records should be consistent with one another,” he said, citing Article 2, Section 4 of the Michigan Constitution.
Why it matters: Kolbeck said gaps and inconsistencies in those records make it impossible for canvassers, auditors or the public to fully validate reported results. He gave examples…
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