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In the past few weeks, Michigan government officials have been under fire for their handling of the 2020 general election and the reports of irregularities coming out of various counties.

One official in particular, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, has been the target of frequent criticism for her oversight of the elections. This week, Benson has issued a statement expounding on her intention to conduct an audit of the 2020 election, according to Michigan.gov. 

She states that this is a planned audit, and its occurrence was in no way influenced by the allegations of widespread fraud across the state and the country. 

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson | Michigan.gov

"Importantly, while the Risk Limiting Audit is a proactive, voluntary and planned action our office is taking to confirm the integrity of our elections and identify areas for future improvement, local procedural audits consider clerical errors identified before and on election day, in addition to issues identified during canvasses. This a typical, standard procedure following election certification, and one that will be carried out in Wayne County and any other local jurisdictions where the data shows notable clerical errors following state certification of the November election."

She has stated that her office has planned for the eventuality of an audit for months, anticipating that the election would be contested and that there could be allegations of fraud.