MFEI News & Commentary Articles

A hearing to consider dramatic changes to how state elections are conducted and administered is being held in Lansing on Friday, September 5.   Beginning at 9:30 a.m., Michiganders are allowed to make public comment on 12 administrative rules (R 168.251-168.262) that would impact Michigan election administration.

A Chicago-based forum of business and government sector experts is releasing a 37-nation study that finds the United States has the worst voting systems in the world.

The Michigan Fair Elections Institute (MFEI) today announced the release of its comprehensive report, Ranked Choice Voting: A Threat to Our Electoral Process, examining ranked-choice voting (RCV) and its implications for Michigan's electoral system. The report comes as Rank MI Vote launches a petition drive for a 2026 constitutional amendment implementing ranked-choice voting.

For more than seven months, voters in District 35 have had no representation in the state Senate. Seven citizens from the district filed a lawsuit August 10, demanding the Governor of Michigan perform her constitutional duty and fill the vacancy.

Two candidates have thrown their hats into the ring for Michigan secretary of state. Here's what you need to know.

In a landmark decision for election integrity, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled the Michigan Republican Party and the Republican National Committee (RNC) have standing to sue Flint officials for failing to appoint an equal number of Republican election inspectors during the 2022 elections.

The 2025 session of the 103rd Michigan Legislature opened with new Republican legislators heading up every House committee and resetting the House agenda. Nowhere was that shift more prominent than in Representative Rachelle Smit’s Election Integrity Committee.

LANSING, Mich. (June 28, 2025) — Michigan’s Board of State Canvassers unanimously approved petition summary language for a constitutional amendment which would enshrine ranked choice voting (RCV) as the state’s required system of voting.

Recently, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Heritage Foundation released dueling scorecards evaluating the perceived effectiveness and fairness of each state’s election laws, processes, and overall infrastructure. Rather than observing relative harmony, readers will find significant divergence between the two models.

March 22, 2024, MI SOS Benson announced Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Election Data and Science Lab ranked Michigan’s administration of the 2022 midterm elections 2nd in the nation. Praising the MIT experts’ ranking has become one of Benson’s favorite songs, and now MI Rep. Mai Xiong, is joining in. At the recent MI House Election Integrity Committee hearing, Rep. Xiong chimed in with a question for election data expert Braden Giacobazzi that set her up to invoke

MFEI’s Communications Team brings you links to election news that you won’t want to miss.

If you're not sure how ranked choice voting works watch our tutorial!  In less than five minutes, Jacky Eubanks, MFEI's director of field operations, uses a mock election to help people understand how Ranked Choice Voting works.

Michigan Fair Elections Institute’s Founder Patrice Johnson is waving a red flag, warning about a new state law governing automatic voter registration coming into effect on June 30. House Bill No. 4983, signed by Governor Whitmer on November 20, 2023, expands automatic voter registration in Michigan, potentially opening the door for even more non-citizen voting.

On March 25, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order 14248, his 116th executive order since taking office and one of his most significant. For election integrity advocates, including organizations like Michigan Fair Elections Institute (MFEI), EO 14248 was a landmark victory. The comprehensive document reads like a wish list of conservative election integrity measures, years in the making, lifting a heavy burden from the shoulders of those who fought for reform

A troubling trend is emerging in MI communities - filling local governing board vacancies by appointment rather than special election.

A MFEI volunteer examined the QVF and discovered a person who passed away in 2019 managed to vote in person in MI's Nov. 2022 election.

Did USAID press its thumb the scales of our elections?  by Patrice Johnson | February 7, 2025 Revised Feb. 8, 2025 Last Saturday,...

We are now in Lame Duck legislative session in Michigan. AND YOU NEED TO BE ALERT now through December 19!

A volunteer poll challenger is disputing four ballots from a Michigan State University polling location.

Recently, the NY Times wrote a piece misrepresenting the intent of MFE publishing Responsibilities and Roles of County Boards of Canvassers.