‘Forensic audit’ in Michigan’s largest pro-Trump county finds no evidence of election interference
A “forensic audit” of election equipment in the largest Michigan county won by former President Donald Trump found no evidence of outside interference in the 2020 election.
Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini released the results of an independent investigation into the county’s voting software on Jan. 5, a day before the one-year anniversary of a riot in Washington, D.C. aimed at overturning the 2020 election. Michigan Republicans waged an unsuccessful year-long campaign to compel similar a “forensic audit” of the statewide election based on unproven allegations of interference in voting machines.
“I’m very comfortable saying that the software and the tabulators work the way they were supposed to,” Forlini said.
The Macomb County audit found no evidence of “malicious internet connectivity,” no evidence of file manipulation and no evidence of unauthorized software in the county’s election servers. Forlini said the audit disproved a popular theory that election machines could be tampered with through the internet.
Forlini was elected in 2020 and said he immediately faced questions about election fraud after he took office in January 2021. Forlini said he sought the audit to answer those questions since he did not administer the 2020 election personally.
“There is no agenda in my head up front, and I think that’s important because some people have agendas,” Forlini said. “I had no agenda, other than the truth.”
The county contracted Pro V&V Inc., an Alabama-based firm that holds an accreditation by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Pro V&V also audited election machines in Arizona’s Maricopa County and Georgia’s Fulton County, which both featured in false election fraud claims promoted by Trump. Forlini said the contract with Pro V&V cost $16,000.
Trump won Macomb County by a margin of 53% to 45%. President Joe Biden earned 154,188 more votes than Trump statewide, winning Michigan 51% to 48%.
Bipartisan election officials in Michigan completed 250 audits reaffirming President Joe Biden’s victory. An eight-month oversight investigation led by Republican lawmakers found no evidence that fraud had an impact.
The Michigan Bureau of Elections sampled 1,601 ballots in Macomb County as part of a risk-limiting audit. The margin of Trump and Biden voters reviewed in the sample aligned with the county’s official results.
Regardless, claims of election fraud remain a sticking point for Trump supporters in Macomb County.
The Macomb County Republican Party called Biden’s victory the “culmination of a four-year coup” last October. The party unanimously adopted a resolution calling for more audits of the election. Macomb County GOP Chair Mark Forton did not respond to a request for an interview.
In a November interview with OANN, Forton had this message for the state Legislature: “If I’m a wacko, then prove it. Do a full forensic audit in Michigan and show the world how stupid Macomb County is.”
Jacky Eubanks, a state House candidate who worked for Trump’s campaign in 2020, canvassed Macomb County voters to find irregularities. In a December radio interview, Eubanks claimed the survey effort found “anomalies” that point to potential fraud in Macomb County, but there’s no way to know for sure without an audit.
Forlini said Eubanks forwarded five cases of potential fraud to his office, but a police investigation revealed the claims were not credible. Forlini said Eubanks hasn’t shared any other details of her canvassing effort.
Local officials also appointed Nancy Tiseo to the Macomb County Board of Canvassers, which is responsible for certifying election results. Tiseo once suggested Trump should declare martial law and conduct “military tribunals” to investigate the 2020 election.
She was the Republican Party’s only nominee to the Macomb County Board of Canvassers, despite state law requiring three nominees to be named.
“There are very vocal groups that were claiming certain things and I will consider many of them good patriots that just want answers,” Forlini said. “We got them answers. I don’t have an issue with people questioning. I would have a problem if they questioned the truth.”
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