Local political analyst weighs in on 2022 election in MI
MID-MICHIGAN (WJRT) – Remembering the horrific events that took place one year ago on Jan. 6, 2021, it raises the question of what kind of impact this may have on the 2022 elections in Michigan.
“The real problem I think is, once you destroy that trust, it takes such a long time to rebuild it. So I would hope that, assuming things go well with the new election districts and there aren’t too many glitches, we’ll finally be able to restore that trust,” said retired political analyst Paul Rozycki.
He said the problem lies in the fact that errors and glitches are bound to happen because people are human.
This year’s elections are big for Michigan with the governor’s race. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is running for re-election against a slate of Republicans.
Rozycki is concerned that something will get blown out of proportion, ultimately destroying trust in the integrity of elections. The people in charge of our ballots, the municipal clerks, election workers, the tabulators themselves.
What happened on Jan. 6, 2021 certainly has left a stain on American democracy, but it’s how the nation decides to move forward and learn from what happened that will help restore trust in the election system.
“The bottom line is, you just do your job as perfectly as you can. It may not be perfect but it should be awfully pretty darn good,” said Rozycki.
He said that if anyone needs evidence of how secure our elections are, they should look no further than November 2020.
“That was probably our most honest election ever. Everything was double and triple checked and there court challenges all over the place, and yet that distrust was there. But compared to an awful lot of past elections, it’s probably our most honest election we’ve ever had in this country,” Rozycki said.
He said that one thing to keep an eye on this year leading up to the elections in Michigan is misinformation. He encourages folks to know who they are voting for and what they are voting for, and do personal fact checking to be able to make the best informed decision.
