Has Michigan Authorized a Forensic Audit of the 2020 Election?

Widely shared social media posts claim that Michigan has authorized “a forensic audit” of the 2020 presidential election. One Facebook post reads: “After a preliminary audit of Dominion machines in Antrim County turned up MAJOR fraud Michigan now wants a full forensic audit.”

Michigan has not authorized an audit of the 2020 presidential election and an earlier audit of Dominion machines in Antrim County, Michigan, did not find evidence of voter fraud in the election.

In an email to The Dispatch Fact Check, Tracy Wimmer, spokesperson for the Michigan Department of State, said: “[N]o new audits are planned.” Wimmer also added: “We conducted more than 250 around the state and those were completed months ago, and all affirmed the integrity and accuracy of the election.”

On March 2 of this year, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson released a statement saying that those 250 audits had been completed and, according to the statement, “every one of them confirmed the integrity and accuracy of the 2020 general election.” Benson also said in that same statement that: “officials also audited every ballot cast for president in Antrim County and found that the Dominion machines used there accurately counted ballots throughout the county. Officials also conducted a statewide audit exercise, by hand-counting votes cast for president on more than 18,000 ballots randomly selected across the state, which affirmed the outcome of the presidential election as previously determined by tabulation machines.”