By Mac Warner, WV Secretary of State
The Michigan Wolverines are the NCAA’s Division I National Football Champions.
Despite the cheating, the country accepts the Wolverines as national football champions. While many people are not fans of Michigan football, today they accept the Wolverines as champions of the 2023-24 season. So why do we accept Michigan as national champions when they got caught cheating? The answer lies in how officials handled the dicey situation, how the school reacted, and how the Big 10 and NCAA responded to the allegations.
First, Michigan admitted their wrongdoing and welcomed the NCAA investigation. Their coach had already endured a three-game suspension this season for recruiting violations in 2020, and now Michigan did not deny that their staff had participated in sign-stealing. Second, Michigan accepted the resignation of the staffer at the center of the scandal, fired a linebacker coach for destroying evidence of the scandal, and stopped stealing signs. By Michigan taking prompt action, the NCAA allowed the Wolverines to continue their season. Third, the Big 10 football conference suspended the head coach for the final three games of the regular season – arguably the biggest games of the year. Finally, the school remains under scrutiny by the NCAA.
The Wolverines closed out the season by defeating five ranked opponents and winning their playoff games. In doing so, they became the national champion.
Compare and contrast what the University of Michigan, the Big 10 conference, and the NCAA did in the Wolverine cheating scandal with what didn’t happen after the 2020 presidential election. When informed of possible improprieties, the school, the conference and the league investigated and then took corrective action. They identified the problem, took both punitive and corrective measures against the perpetrators, and used the incidents for instructive purposes for other competitors.
That did not occur with the 2020 presidential election.
That is why the country is still embroiled in an intractable mess over the integrity of our 2020 election.
We should learn three simple things from the Michigan Wolverines’ 2023 college football season. First, when integrity is in question, everyone who has a stake in the process needs to lean in and identify the problem. Admitting there is a problem and finding what it is becomes a critical step in reconciliation.
Second, if punishment is warranted, it should be initiated quickly.
Third, corrective and oversight measures should be implemented to prevent recurrence.
With regard to the 2020 election, we should have never turned a blind eye to the counting of late ballots, unauthorized and unsupervised drop boxes, accepting improper absentee applications and voting, allowing voter registrations outside the legal period, and federal agencies acting improperly. Everyone should have welcomed investigations into these matters, and made determinations on improprieties and proper corrective measures.
Allegations of election irregularities should always be thoroughly investigated. There is no such thing as a little cheating; either there was cheating or there wasn’t. When members of the media state emphatically, “there was no widespread evidence of election fraud” or “there wasn’t enough fraud to change the outcome of the election,” they should be ashamed. That attitude simply rewards the wrongdoer and their misbehavior. It invites future fraud.
By inserting the word “widespread” they imply something less than “widespread” should be acceptable. Every instance of cheating disenfranchises or cancels one legitimate citizen’s vote. When this continues to happen, good people lose faith and stop voting. This is the most insidious, wicked form of voter suppression. Evil triumphs and representative government falters. With the Michigan scandal, the depth and breadth of the cheating were not factored into the decision of whether to investigate. Officials didn’t care if it was widespread or if the cheating was enough to change the outcome of games. They identified a problem and got after it.
So, yes, our nation can learn a lot from the 2023 Michigan Wolverines when it comes to our elections. Nefarious actors exist; cheating does happen. In football, cheating occurs with more than just shaving points or bad officiating. It occurs in recruiting, sign stealing, playing ineligible players, program donors paying players and more. It occurs throughout the process of running football programs. Similarly, the entirety of the election process must remain secure, not just the casting and tabulation of ballots.
To keep fraud from happening again, we need to acknowledge what took place, investigate thoroughly, participate in the search for the truth, and rectify the problems discovered.
To many fans, there will always be a stain on Michigan’s championship due to the cheating. But, I commend the school, the Conference and the League for doing their duty to investigate the cheating and for taking corrective action.
Shame on those who will not do the same in regards to the election of our country’s Presidents.
Mac Warner is serving his second term as WV Secretary of State. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and spent 23 years in the United States Army where he retired at the rank of Lt. Colonel. He then served five years stationed in Afghanistan with the U.S. State Department.