Updated Post-Election Audit Process

As announced in March, the Post-Election Audit process has been updated and new procedures will be followed beginning with next week's May election. 

The largest addition to the process is a review of voted ballots with a hand tally of select contests.  The review of voted ballots will verify that the equipment used to count votes worked properly and yielded the correct result.

The hand count will be conducted in a manner similar to a manual recount and the number of contests to be hand counted will vary by type of election (May vs. November; odd year vs. even year) and will be no more than three.

Other minor changes to the process include:

• Verification of a completed Receiving Board Checklist
• Verification that a Remark was made if a valid balancing discrepancy exists
• Verification that Provisional envelope ballots counted after an election are sealed in an approved container
• Verification that if a vendor was used to print pre-marked test deck ballots, that three ballots from the precinct ballot stock were hand marked

For full instructions review the Post-Election Audit Manual and Post-Election Audit Checklist.  BOE will also be conducting a webinar on Thursday, May 17th at 11 a.m. titled How to Conduct a Post Election Audit to review the process with County Clerks and their staff.  Counties - please register in the eLearning Center to receive login information.  If you will be watching together on one screen, only one person needs to register.  Please do not share the webinar link as the webinar has a limited capacity.

QVF Refresh Make Up Sessions 

The Bureau of Elections has completed over 120 QVF Refresh training sessions statewide during the past 12 weeks.  Since there are some users who have not yet completed the training, we will be conducting the following make up training sessions beginning in mid-May through the middle of June.   

Who should attend?  Any user of the QVF and/or EMP who has not yet taken QVF Refresh training should attend a make up session.  All users are required to take a class before receiving access to the new QVF Refresh system. 

The following are the three types of QVF Refresh Training offered: 

QVF Refresh Complete Training Session:  This full day training is required for all current QVF software users wishing to utilize all/most of the functionality of the QVF.  Participants will gain access into all sections of the software following the completion of this class: voter registration, status changes, printing notices, reports, av tracking, street index maintenance, petitions, and much more. 

QVF Refresh Basic Training Session: This half day training session is for clerks and their staff who do not currently use the QVF software but rely on the Election Management Portal (EMP) for basic functions such as absent voter tracking and voter search. This class does not include Voter Registration. Participants will gain limited access to QVF which reflects similar functions to the EMP following the completion of this class. 

QVF Refresh Basic to Complete Training Session:  This half day training session is for clerks and their staff that has already completed the QVF Refresh Basic class but wish to receive instruction on the full functionality of the software.  This class will focus on voter registration and statuses which is the functionality not taught during the QVF Basic class.  Participants will gain full access into all functionality following the completion of this class. 

Each training delivers instruction through presentation with demonstration, and hands-on practice using real world scenarios. Class will be held in a computer lab where food and drink are not permitted. There will be a lunch break for the full day class and short breaks for all classes. 

To sign up for one of the QVF Refresh training sessions Browse by Subject Classes in the eLearning Center. We also recommend using the Events Calendar which can easily be filtered by class and/or location. From the Learning menu, select Events Calendar, then use the Filter Boxes on the left to narrow the results down by Class Title (Title box), County (Session ID box), or Region (Location box). Refer to the Jurisdiction Codes and Training Regions document to find the region where your jurisdiction is located.

Other Training Sessions

If you were not able to attend Election Cycle Preparation or Train the Trainer, make up sessions have been scheduled.

Train the Trainer for Election Inspector Training Coordinators: Tuesday, June 5th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Delta Township Hall; Lansing, MI

Election Cycle Preparation for 2018: Tuesday, June 12th from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Delta Township Hall; Lansing MI

Wednesday, June 27th from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Haring Township Hall; Cadillac, MI

Election Officials Accreditation

Space is still available in the following sessions of Accreditation for Election Officials:

June 7 & 8 at Delta Township Hall; Lansing, MI

June 26 & 27 at Marquette Township Hall; Marquette, MI

This in-person class is one part of the Initial Accreditation Curriculum found in the Elections eLearning Center.

All new clerks are required to attend the 2 day in-person class as part of the initial curriculum. Other new election officials are also welcome. This class is only for people who have not attended the in-person accreditation class previously.

These are the last sessions that will be held prior to the August Primary election. Openings are limited, be sure to register as soon as possible as these classes fill up fast!

Board of County Canvassers Training

Training for County Canvassers will cover preparations for the 2018 elections, the procedures associated with the canvass / certification of elections and conducting vote recounts.

Counties please alert the members of your canvassing boards of these training dates, emphasizing to your canvassers that it is important that they attend this training. All county clerks (as clerk to the board) and county staff that assist in the canvassing process should attend and register for the training in the eLearning Center. A Board of County Canvasser printable training schedule has been created for use in notifying the members of the boards.

Please register for the session that is most convenient to your location and schedule. Board members do not need to pre-register.

Reed College/ Democracy Fund Email

Paul Gronke (a Professor at Reed College with a long history in election research) is working with the Democracy Fund to do a survey of local election officials. The goal of the survey is to amplify the voice of local election officials for discussions about election administration, integrity, and conduct. This effort is a collaboration between Democracy Fund and the Early Voting Information Center at Reed College. The survey itself should take only 10 minutes and asks for the opinions and perceptions of local election officials on topics such as how election administration has changed over time, the costs/benefits of election technology, and views on various election modernization efforts.

Local jurisdictions over 50k will receive the survey and a random sampling of jurisdictions smaller than 50k will receive the survey.  The initial email will be from Paul Gronke (paul.gronke@reed.edu) and the survey email will come from DF-RC-LEO-Survey@qualtricsurvey.com. Please know this is a legitimate survey, and it is fine to respond if you choose to do so.  Also note that this research may result in the release of more helpful information nationally that highlights the challenges you face and the hard work you do as local election officials. 

BOE Question of the Week:

How long do the Secretary of State branch office voter registration forms have to be retained?

Answer:  All SOS branch office voter registration forms (blue & white form) should be verified in QVF.  Once you have confirmed that the voter was properly entered into QVF and a signature is on file, the form may be destroyed.

Have a question you'd  like to see in the Question of the Week?  Send it to elections@michigan.gov.