LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum made it personal with State Senator Ruth Johnson (R-Holly) during a hearing on Wednesday before the Michigan Senate Elections and Ethics Committee and appeared to malign the lawmaker with a follow-up tweet.

 

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Byrum’s tweet refers to the exchange seen here which starts around 20 minutes after the video starts. Sen. Johnson, who served as Michigan’s Secretary of State between 2011-2109, asked Byrum and St. Joseph County Clerk Lindsay Oswald about the process of same-day voter registration. Clerk Byrum’s comments were in response to a hypothetical that Sen. Johnson posed to both Byrum and Oswald to investigate the systems in place to prevent an individual from voting multiple times in the same election.

From the panel, Johnson asked Byrum and Oswald how many days it would take to add names to the state qualified voter file.

After a brief exchange, Johnson, clarified her question, “I might not have asked the question correctly. If I were to go into a clerk’s office and register today how many days until I’m on the state’s QVF (qualified voter file)?”

Oswald explained that it’s possible for voter registration to be processed on the same day, especially if the voter comes directly to her office. However, Oswald said if it is one of the outlying townships, it may sit for a few days or possibly a week.

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Johnson followed up, “So we don’t have a real time system in Michigan so that it gets on right away?” Oswald said, “Not yet, but we’re hopeful.”

The exchange continued. “If I was not honest and I did registration…[and] never showed ID, how would I know if I voted back home in Holly and wherever I went to maybe the university? How would I know that without a real time system?” Johnson asked.

Byrum interrupted Oswald and said, “I would be the first one to seek charges against you Senator if you did that.”

Johnson clarified her questions dealt with the processes currently in place.

Michigan News Source reached out to Senator Johnson for a comment. She said, “Clerk Byrum’s tongue-in-cheek response and tweet did not answer the question I posed. If we catch cheaters, yes they should be prosecuted, but the problem is we have no system to catch them in the first place. Following the passage of Proposal 3 in 2018 which provides for same day registration without ID, we have no system to detect if someone attempts to vote or votes multiple times in the same election and this is a weakness in my opinion which hurts integrity.”