State Rep. Mary Whiteford is leading the House in a move to take more definitive action as people continue to voice concerns over the most recent election.

In an open letter released today, Whiteford and other legislators called for a forensic audit of the election and asked the House to extend subpoena power to the chamber’s Oversight Committee in order to get testimony from Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Michigan’s Bureau of Elections Director Jonathan Brater.

In response, House Speaker Lee Chatfield said this morning that the Michigan House will vote next week to authorize subpoena power to the House Oversight Committee.

“There are simply too many reports of fraud and too many questionable irregularities to ignore,” said Whiteford, of Casco Township. “People deserve answers, and I am fighting hard to make sure a fair and honest investigation is conducted into each and every irregularity that occurred. To accomplish that, we must have a full and thorough statewide audit and we must give our Oversight Committee the subpoena power it needs to hold the Secretary of State accountable.”

The House Oversight Committee recently heard testimony from several Michigan residents who were at the TCF Center in Detroit and asserted they saw abuses of the duplicate ballot and ballot tabulating processes, as well as sequentially numbered ballots showing up in boxes as if they were pre-ordered that way. Their accounts also included Republican challengers being harassed or not replaced by another Republican challenger if one was removed, potentially jeopardizing needed oversight of counting procedures.

Leaders from the House and Senate Oversight Committees previously issued a subpoena to the Bureau of Elections, seeking to review documents and communications involving the state’s election system in order to provide clarity and help build a trustworthy process for the future.