LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The Whitmer administration is trying to assure Michiganders that “states run elections” and that Michigan’s elections are “safe, efficient, fair, and secure.” However, election integrity advocates say the entire process raises “legal concerns.”

Redrawing the maps.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II, Attorney General Dana Nessel, and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, issued a press release late on Friday, saying that August primary and November general elections will be secure. The Democratic administration said that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Louisiana v. Callais triggered the joint statement. Specifically, they cited the court case they claimed “eliminated key protections in the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965.” They went on to say that “Tennessee state lawmakers approved…a new U.S. House map that dismantled the state’s only majority-Black district.”

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In 2018, Michigan voters approved a measure that established an “independent” commission that redrew the state’s congressional lines. Patrice Johnson, Chairperson and Founder of Michigan Fair Elections Institute (MFEI), told Michigan News Source the Whitmer administration has nothing to fear if the commission drew the maps without intentional racial discrimination. “If they were drawn with intentional discrimination, the maps should be redrawn,” Johnson said. “A joint press release that buries the point and substitutes political messaging for legal analysis doesn’t inspire confidence. It raises questions,” Johnson added.

Whitmer attacks unnamed “anti-democracy groups.”

In addition, the Whitmer administration took the opportunity to attack President Donald Trump and “anti-democracy groups” as roadblocks to secure elections. However, they failed to address the real concern: Benson will be in charge of the very election in which she’s running for governor.

“Michigan voters deserve more than reassurances from the very officials whose conduct is under scrutiny,” Johnson noted. “When the Secretary of State writes the rules governing elections she oversees — and in which she is now a candidate — structural conflict isn’t a talking point, it’s a legal concern. Self-certification is not accountability.”

Michigan’s primary is Tuesday, Aug. 4. The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 3.