Rep. DeBoyer: President referencing Muskegon voter registration case shows need for reforms, election security

State Rep. Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay Township) released the following statement after President Donald Trump highlighted potential election crimes in Muskegon during the 2020 election in an address to the nation on Thursday night.

In 2020, Michigan State Police raided a Get Out The Vote group in Muskegon. According to FBI documents cited by President Trump, Get Out The Vote staff admitted to signing voter registration forms in other people’s names, submitting fraudulent information for people that did not exist, and receiving gift cards based on the number of applications they produced.

In 2024, DeBoyer, who chairs the House Oversight Committee, and state Rep. Rachelle Smit (R-Martin) sent a letter to then FBI Director Christopher Wray requesting a meeting with FBI agents to demand an investigation regarding the events in Muskegon prior to the 2020 election, citing the serious and detailed concerns laid out by lawmakers and media. DeBoyer and Smit also pressed state Attorney General Dana Nessel to investigate and prosecute perpetrators based on the evidence that had been provided:

“Every voter wants to know elections they vote in are free, fair, safe and secure. House Republicans have led the way in Michigan by fighting for transparency, justice and an elections process that gives people faith in the results.

“I want to thank President Trump for highlighting the serious nature of this case. The city clerk said the registration forms in question contained information that was not listed in the Michigan Secretary of State’s database. This wasn’t an instance of ‘there’s nothing to see here.’ This was an attempt to defraud our elections system with thousands of bogus registration forms, and we need to prosecute these acts and provide clear deterrents when they occur. Otherwise, people are going to assume these types of stunts will only get worse and they will lose faith in our elections. That’s incredibly damaging.

“As a clerk in St. Clair County for over a decade before serving in the Legislature, it was my duty to oversee elections and ensure they were run smoothly so that we could deliver a trusted result. As President Trump rightly noted, we continue to walk a fine line on sustaining a pillar of our democracy without proper safeguards, oversight and accountability in place for our elections.”