Publicly available data could reveal how some people voted, if the precinct is small, but masking the data might violate the Freedom of Information Act.
Election officials in Michigan have revealed that the government, and anyone else, can know whom a person voted for in certain circumstances involving both federal and state elections.
The simple process—described by the state Bureau of Elections (BOE) in a July legal proceeding—involves cross-checking the “Type of Voting” column on the state’s Qualified Voter File (QVF) with a statutorily required posting of election results by county clerks.
The “Type of Voting” column, also called the “Type of Voter” column, specifies an individual’s mode of voting. The three designations are EV for early voting, A for absentee ballot, and ED for Election Day in-person voting.
The QVF ties the individual’s mode of voting with his or her name, address, and voter identification number.
The county clerk’s posting lists the precinct vote totals that each candidate received from each mode of voting.
Secrecy is lost when a single voter or a small number of voters all vote in the same mode, in the same precinct, for the same candidate. It then becomes possible to determine for whom the individual or individuals