Sarah Warner

The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a nonpartisan political organization whose vision is a democracy where every person has the desire, the right, the knowledge, and the confidence to participate.  With active Leagues in all 50 states and more than 800 Leagues across the country, we engage in advocacy, education, litigation, and organizing to protect every American’s freedom to vote. 

For my part, I feel so immensely proud and lucky to do this work for our democracy – work that includes helping produce our Non-Partisan Voter Guide for the state. I also manage the League of Women Voters of Michigan’s Statewide Nonpartisan Board of Canvassers Observer Program.

So, what exactly is that program, and how did it come about?

Following the 2020 election, there were some concerns about the canvass and certification process in one of our counties. In response to that we started our Nonpartisan Canvass Observer Program to educate our communities about what the certification process is and how it works, as well as to build trust in our election system and security.

We view ourselves as the bridge between the public and the election certification process, our observers serve as the public’s eyes and ears, providing transparency as their votes are certified.

This program has been growing since its start! We are committed to covering every county in Michigan and do our best to ensure that we can do so with our fantastic team of highly trained volunteers.

Our volunteers go through extensive training and orientation, including the history of The Board of Canvassers, the function of the board and other election officials, and the crucial need for nonpartisanship and respect throughout. They are then able to select shifts across the full county canvass period, which begins no later than the Thursday following the Tuesday election and continues up to 14 days, when the county board of canvassers is required by law to certify election results.

We contact all the county clerks in Michigan to confirm the Canvass location, dates, and time, and let them know that our trained observers will be there. We also send ahead a one-pager to explain who the LWV is, our nonpartisan policy, and what the Canvass Observers are there to do. We require our observers to wear a League name badge so they can be easily identified and to introduce themselves when they attend the Canvass.

As observers, they are trained not to interfere, challenge, or participate. They are instructed only to watch, take notes, and turn in a report no later than two hours after their shift.  If any issues arise, they know who to reach out to and we will take it from there as needed.

For many folks, volunteering as a nonpartisan canvass observer is an attractive program, because they can learn more about the democratic process and how many security protocols exist to protect our votes. We often hear from our volunteers that they didn’t realize how many checks and balances there truly are to the election process. It’s proof of the strength of our election system.

Election officials across Michigan have consistently told us they value the League’s visible, professional presence as a deterrent to disruption and a demonstration that the process is open and accountable to the people of Michigan.

During the post-election process after the August Primary, we had great coverage, and have expanded and deepened our coverage and teams since then! We are ready to rock and roll for November!

I feel fortunate to be a part of an organization and team of democracy partners that serves our communities with such dedication and passion for voter rights, democracy, and election integrity, and to have the chance to support our election workers at the local and statewide levels are they engage in their crucial work making sure all of our votes count and our elections remain free, fair, and secure!

We invite and welcome any and all Michiganders to observe a local canvass. They will get a front row seat to see just how transparent and secure our Michigan elections are.