Fact Checking Claims About Voting in Detroit

A claim by Donald Trump is misleading.

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People vote in Detroit. (Photo by Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images.)

On Election Day, Donald Trump claimed that voters in Detroit were being turned away and being told they’d already voted, blaming the situation on absentee ballots.

A computer system glitch in some Detroit precincts caused some ballots to be generated with identical ballot numbers to those appearing on previously printed absentee ballots. A statement from Detroit officials said the system flagged the duplicate ballot numbers to ensure no one had voted twice. Officials also said that affected precincts received instructions so that affected in-person voters could cast their ballots.

The Detroit News reported that some voters whose ballots bore duplicate numbers were asked to file provisional ballots, which require voters to prove their identity and eligibility. Jake Rollow, a spokesman for Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office, told the Detroit News that individuals who filed provisional ballots because of the machine error would have their ballots counted as normal, without the typical requirements of provisional ballots.

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  1. Avatar photo
    Gwarcuri

    I reside in California and have voted here since 1968. I've seen lots of ballots. This year, the ballots were printed in a font so small that a magnifying glass was practically needed to read the tiny script. Seriously, folks, it was joke. Perhaps the tree huggers in Sacramento got to the Secretary of State and convinced him to save paper. I know it's not a matter of money: according to Governor Newsom, we have a surplus! In any event, if any Republicans would have been elected to state office, I'm sure some losing Democrat candidate would have been contacted the following day by Stacey Abrams offering her help in launching an investigation into how small fonts disproportionately affected the vote of key Democrat constituencies and minorities. The goal of the proposed election reforms would be to create a system whereby drag queens would be hired to read the ballot to anyone who requested it at polling locations, or come to their homes to do so. After all, we can't possibly ask voters to actually study the ballot, or understand candidate's proposed policies. That would be discriminatory.

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  2. Avatar photo
    Jack

    Like.

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  3. Trichwages

    Thank you, Alec!

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