House election-integrity committee hears push for forensic post‑election audits; reports HB 4136 out of committee

The House Committee on Election Integrity on Monday heard testimony urging broader, forensic post‑election audits and voted unanimously to report House Bill 4136 with recommendation.

Outside expert John Drozd, testifying by video, told the committee that “election integrity is not a Republican or a Democrat issue” and argued Michigan should pursue more thorough post‑election forensic audits rather than rely solely on risk‑limiting audits (RLAs). Chairperson Smith said she found Drozd’s presentation “very insightful” and indicated the committee will look into more extensive post‑election auditing.

Drozd summarized work his team did after the 2020 election and described three categories of election inaccuracies — voter, machine and process — that he said are best revealed by “meaningful post‑election audits.” He argued that small percentage errors can alter close races and said a target of roughly 99.9% accuracy would be needed to reduce the chance that inaccuracies change outcomes. “We have election integrity when we have highly accurate election results,”…