Attorney general hopefuls in Alpena: State election audit needed
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ALPENA -- Election security and restoring faith in the election process are among the most pressing issues facing Michigan, three Republican candidates running for attorney general said during a debate at Alpena Community College on Friday.
Former Speaker of the House Tom Leonard, Matthew DePerno, and Ryan Berman, who is the state representative for the 39th state House District shared similar views on several issues discussed Friday, including abortion, Enbridge Inc.’s Line 5 pipeline, and COVID-19 restrictions imposed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
But election security was one of the biggest issues of the debate and all three candidates vowed to have a statewide forensic audit done on the 2020 election to ease concerns of some voters who the candidates said are losing faith in the election system.
"Right now, we live in a society where about 50% of the population no longer trusts the integrity of our election process," Leonard said. "A forensic audit would protect the integrity of the system. Our republic can not function if 50% of it no longer trusts that when they go to vote, it is not going to count or the results aren't going to be accurate."
Berman said he sponsored a budget amendment for $5 million budgeted to conduct a forensic audit, but wants to take it one step further and have canvassing of voters conducted.
"We would actually go out there and ask people who haven't voted in 20 years and all of a sudden showed up in that election and asked them if they voted," Berman said. "I called it a statewide election integrity review. Who can be against an integrity review? We should all be secure in knowing our election can't be compromised."
DePerno said a full forensic audit goes beyond having a deep dive on a computer's system. He said an examination of the paper used in the election also needs reviewing.
"One has to go with the other and you can't do one without the other," DePerno said. "Doing one without the other is essentially meaningless. That is why they keep telling us we can't see the paper ballots."
The three candidates will run in the August primary election. The winner this summer will likely square off against current Attorney General Dana Nessel whom all three candidates said doesn't abide by the rule of law and makes decisions based on her own political agenda.
Leonard was defeated by Nessel in 2018.
One of the last questions asked by moderators was if the candidates would investigate Whitmer for placing COVID-19 patients in nursing homes around the state.
DePerno said he would bring charges and have her arrested if he was elected, while Leonard and Berman said they would have thorough investigations done first before making a decision to press charges.
Among other issues discussed, all of the candidates are in favor of moving forward with having a tunnel built under the Straits of Mackinac and fight to preserve life on abortion issues. All three candidates said they would also lift any state or federally issued mandates regarding COVID-19 that are still in place after they take office.