Former Michigan Sec of State: Recount Won’t Catch Real Problems, ‘Independent Audit’ of Vote Needed

Former Michigan Secretary of State Ruth Johnson told The Kyle Olson Show this week that an “independent audit” is needed of the ballots cast during the presidential election last week.

Johnson (R-Holly), who now chairs the Senate Elections Committee, wants her committee and another to be able to subpoena records related to how the count was conducted, particularly in Detroit, where dozens of observers have produced affidavits detailing a botched process.

Johnson filed an affidavit urging an “independent audit” of the vote.

“Recounting’s not going to help us because the allegations we’ve received that are credible” have examples “of things that aren’t going to be found in a recount,” she said, including coaching voters, making it difficult for observers to watch the process, and counting ballots multiple times.

“These are all against the law and these are integrity processes and need to be adhered to,” Johnson said.

Johnson conceded she does not believe the issues will have an impact on the election, but perhaps will in future elections.

“We need to know what happened and then do everything in our power to fix it legislatively,” she said.

Johnson said an “audit” would be conducted through the legislature, both the House and Senate.

It would be “to find out what went wrong, how the system was not used within the law to ensure integrity,” she told The Kyle Olson Show.

“I need to find out every single thing that was done or not done that strips away integrity so we can look at how we can fix it for the next election,” Johnson said.

She said the Senate Oversight committee will be given subpoena power and she will be working with that group to obtain documents and statements from those involved in the vote counting process.

Johnson said her successor, Jocelyn Benson, “should” do an investigation, but she did not believe that will happen.

“There’s some issues with integrity in the office,” Johnson said, adding if she was still secretary, she would conduct a “comprehensive audit” of the process.

Kyle Olson is a reporter for Breitbart News. He is also host of “The Kyle Olson Show,” syndicated on Michigan radio stations on Saturdays. Listen to segments on YouTube or download full podcast episodes. Follow him on Twitter, like him on Facebook, and follow him on Parler.