The Michigan Bureau of Elections (BOE) issued a critical change in its disclosure of absentee ballot records last week, according to an email from FOIA Coordinator Sherri Hines. The missive, sent to organizations with standing requests for absentee voter data, announced the BOE will no longer provide certain key data fields essential for election monitoring.
The message from the BOE, a division of the Michigan Department of State, indicated that “Daily AV” (absentee voter) reports — which included data related to absentee ballot applications sent and received, as well as ballots returned by voters — will no longer be available in their current form under FOIA requests. Instead, the reports are being replaced by information limited to ballots “issued but not returned” and “ballots cast before Election Day,” which includes returned absentee ballots and early voting. (FOIA Coordinator Sherri Hines, the email sender, did not return The Federalist’s inquiry about the message.)
Organizations like CheckMyVote.org and Michigan Fair Elections rely on these figures for their election integrity work.
“I don’t see the reasoning behind these changes. The BOE cites voter privacy as the reason, but the date the application is sent and returned has nothing to do with voter privacy, and these dates are no longer disclosed” for cast ballots, said Phani Mantravadi, CEO of Check My Vote.
For ballots cast, “We have no ballot ID. No date when it’s mailed,” Mantravadi added. “This is a huge risk to chain of custody.”
“This will affect all organizations who
