USENIX Security ’22- The Antrim County 2020 Election Incident: An Independent Forensic Investigation

USENIX Security ’22 - The Antrim County 2020 Election Incident: An Independent Forensic Investigation J. Alex Halderman, University of Michigan Distinguished Paper Award Winner In November 2020, Antrim County, Michigan published unofficial election results that misstated totals in the presidential race and other contests by up to several thousand votes. Antrim subsequently issued a series of corrections, and the certified presidential results were confirmed by a hand count. Nevertheless, Antrim was repeatedly cited by the former President as evidence of widespread fraud, and it remains a centerpiece of conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. At the request of the Michigan Secretary of State and Attorney General, I performed a forensic investigation of the incident. Using data from the election system, I precisely reproduce the major anomalies, explain their cause, and verify they have been corrected. However, I also uncover other errors affecting specific down-ballot contests tha