A University of Michigan Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy survey finds 95% of city and township clerks in Michigan are 'very confident' in their ability to run an accurate November 2026 election, a slight rise from 2020 and 2022. The survey drew responses from officials in over 70% of the state's 1,856 municipalities.
Nearly half of officials, 49%, cited the cost of running elections — including staffing nine days of state-mandated early voting — as their top concern, competing for budget against police, potholes and other services. Smaller shares flagged equipment failures, long wait times, or inaccurate voter rolls, while about 1 in 5 expect voters to face disinformation and 8% expect polling-place disturbances, with those numbers roughly doubling in communities over 30,000 residents.
Confidence in other communities' elections splits sharply by party: 94% of Democratic respondents are confident in other jurisdictions' administration, versus 68% of Republican respondents, a quarter of whom expressed doubt or uncertainty.
The full dispatch is available from the source below.