(WXYZ) — False election fraud speculations have persisted following the 2020 presidential election, forcing city clerks across the state to tighten up their defenses.
The State of Michigan gave $8 million to municipalities to make sure the election is safe & secure, but how was that money spent? We took a look.
Those widespread debunked voter fraud speculations led hundreds of people to attempt to break into the Huntington Place in Detroit while voters were being counted.
There was even a WXYZ photojournalist and his red wagon at the center of a global conspiracy theory with someone alleging he was pulling in ballots. He wasn't. He was pulling in camera equipment.
"It was like a pressure cooker, turning the heat up, turning the pressure up," Michael Siegrist, the Canton Township Clerk, said.
The rhetoric behind the last presidential election made Siegrist feel uneasy and unsafe. He said they have made changes to their preparation for the 2022 election.
"Here in Canton, all the election machines are in one secure room only eight people have access to. Also new this year, surveillance cameras," he said.
The new protocols were at the suggestion of the Department of Homeland Security, which did a threat assessment on the township's cyber and physical security.
Siergist said Canton used $49,000 from the grant money to increase security. But, no matter the district, the level of security, he said wherever you vote, your vote will be counted fairly, saying the election will "100%" be safe and secure.