Bureau of Elections Directive Prohibiting Independent Forensic Review of Voting Equipment (MI)

Michigan Bureau of Elections Director Jonathan Brater issued a memorandum on August 4, 2021, threatening clerks with decertification of election equipment if they permitted any independent technical experts – including those retained by duly elected boards of canvassers – to examine voting systems. Simultaneously, the same vendor (ElectionSource) implicated in directing battery-removal from machines retained unrestricted access. This created an asymmetry in which vendor forensic access was protected while elected officials’ independent review was criminalized.