By Ben Solis, Michigan Advance
Politics can at times make for strange bedfellows, and the resistance to ranked choice voting taking root in Michigan is just the latest example, bringing so-called far-right election deniers and the county clerks who have questioned them under the same umbrella.
Members of the bipartisan Michigan Association of County Clerks on Wednesday said they unanimously voted to oppose the pending 2026 ballot measure, which would establish ranked choice voting for all elections. Clerks aligned with the association said the measure being pushed by Rank MI Vote was concerning. The group cited timeliness issues related to election certification and delays in the recount or audit process.
Among their members is Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, who is currently seeking the office of Michigan secretary of state in the 2026 contest. Byrum also holds multiple leadership positions with the association, according to its website.
On Thursday, following the association’s announcement opposing ranked choice voting, the Michigan Conservative Coalition and Pure Integrity Michigan Elections released a joint statement thanking the association for its opposition to the Rank MI Vote measure.
“When the very people responsible for running our elections speak with one voice against a proposed system, Michigan voters should take notice,” said Patrice Johnson, chairperson of Pure Integrity Michigan Elections, in a statement. “These clerks aren’t politicians or activists. They’re the dedicated public servants who ensure every legal vote is counted accurately and transparently.”
It was a moment of rare unity, not just between the bipartisan association for county clerks in Michigan, but also for a group like Pure Integrity Michigan Elections and Byrum, who has in the past called the group, and others like it, a vassal of election deniers conspiracy theories related to the 2020 election.
Election denialism has strong roots in Michigan given the fact that Detroit and its absentee board counting center was at the heart of some of the conspiracies bandied about after former President Joe Biden won the state by a wide margin in 2020, helping in his overall victory against then- and now current President Donald Trump.
In a report published by Progress Michigan in 2022, the progressive advocacy group noted the intricacies of the Michigan Republican Party and its relationship with election conspiracy theorists.
The very first quote in the report comes directly from Byrum.
“These workers and volunteers can easily disrupt the process by challenging everything they see,” said Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum. “Or by intentionally slowing down their work, or leaving the polling place or the absentee counting board when they aren’t supposed to. … “Disenfranchising even one voter is too many.”
Deep within the Progress Michigan report is a section detailing the different groups that have worked to further those conspiracies, and Pure Integrity Michigan Elections is featured in a full page spread.
Progress Michigan wrote in 2022 that Pure Integrity Michigan Elections, which was formed after the 2020 election, at one point employed Linda Lee Tarver as its spokesperson. Tarver is a prominent Michigan GOP activist, party fixture and a former candidate for the state Board of Education.
Tarver was a key voice in the push to have the 2020 election decertified.
Neither the Michigan Association of County Clerks nor Byrum responded to questions from Michigan Advance about the support they received from Pure Integrity Michigan Elections, and what it means for them to both be in the same boat now.
When asked by the Advance about the endorsement of the clerks’opposition by Pure Integrity Michigan Elections, Joe Spaulding, campaign director for Rank MI Vote, did not directly address that point, but did say that ranked choice voting gives power back to voters, not parties.
“It encourages candidates to build broader coalitions, focus on issues that unite communities, and win on ideas instead of partisan outrage,” Spaulding said. “Michigan voters are smart enough to rank their preferences. What county clerks are calling ‘confusing’ is really just more democratic.”
Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Michigan Advance maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jon King for questions: info@michiganadvance.com.
