Over the past week, MAGA organizers have done everything they can to upend free and fair elections in Michigan – starting with local election administration procedures, where election deniers have started training poll observers to ignore local rules. To make matters worse, local election administrators are facing threats of violence and harassment unless they accede to MAGA demands. As a Friday deadline approaches, two ballot initiatives are locked in a court battle to make the November ballot in Lansing while a steady stream of revelations about MAGA voting machine tampering continues to emerge. With a new lawsuit seeking to ‘re-do’ the election appearing in federal court yesterday, it’s clear that ongoing attempts to overturn the 2020 election continue to threaten democracy in Michigan.
MAGA Organizers Are Threatening Election Administrators & Encouraging Poll Workers To Break Rules
Detroit Free Press: Almost Half Of Michigan Local Officials Report Harassment and Abuse, Survey Finds. “[A] new survey from the University of Michigan found 47% of local elected and appointed officials personally experienced online or in-person harassment over the past few years. That number goes up to 53% when officials are asked if they’re aware of other local officials who’ve been harassed or abused. The same percentage report the harassment has had a negative impact on their local government…‘Unfortunately, these findings are indicators of the problems facing our democracy today. Local leaders generally want their residents engaged in their government’s work, but not like this,’ said Tom Ivacko, executive director of the center. ‘We’re very concerned about the health of our democracy, and will continue to monitor it for growing threats.’” [Detroit Free Press, 9/8/22]
CNN: Michigan GOP Leaders Encourage Rule Breaking At Poll Worker Training Session. “The evening before Michigan’s state primary, Wayne County GOP leaders held a Zoom training session for poll workers and partisan observers — warning them about “bad stuff happening” during the election and encouraging them to ignore local election rules barring cell phones and pens from polling places and vote-counting centers…Some participants raised concerns about being tossed out if they broke the rules. “That’s why you got to do it secretly,” Costantino replied…During the Wayne County training call, obtained by CNN, the presumption that Democrats cheat — thus justifying Republican rule-breaking — permeated the discussion. It offers a snapshot of one of the ways Trump-backing, MAGA-minded conspiracy theorists are intervening in the election process across the country, sometimes encouraging poll workers or volunteer observers to violate election rules in hopes of finding evidence that Democrats might be doing the same. It’s an approach election experts fear could spur chaos and conflict in November’s [midterm] elections and in 2024.” [CNN, 9/7/22]
The Hill: Michigan Secretary Of State Says Officials Worried About ‘Violence and Disruption’ On Election Day. “Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) on Sunday said election officials nationwide are most worried about ‘violence and disruption’ as the midterm elections approach. ‘Secondly, there’s a concern about the ongoing spread of misinformation, which, of course fuels the potential for additional threats, harassment and even violence on Election Day,’ Benson added. Despite her worries, Benson noted that election officials have been working for roughly two years to protect the integrity of the election process, an effort she described as a success ‘at every turn,’ vowing to seek accountability for anyone who attempts to interfere with November’s midterm contests…‘So we are, in many ways, even more prepared this year than ever before … to ensure that we are eliminating, mitigating or certainly protecting the system against any potential disruptions,’ Benson added.” [The Hill, 9/4/22]
Brennan Center: Michigan Election Inspectors: Rules and Constraints. “Election inspectors (Michigan’s legal term for poll workers) play an essential role in Michigan elections. They perform election duties ranging from processing voters and absentee ballots to securing voting equipment and publishing results. In recent years, Michigan — like other states across the country — has grappled with ongoing election inspector shortages. For elections to function well, it is critical that government officials recruit a sufficient number of qualified individuals from all political parties to serve as election inspectors. It is equally critical, however, that these inspectors perform their duties impartially, follow the law, and not disrupt or interfere with voting and election administration.” [Brennan Center For Justice, 8/2/22]
Two Embattled Ballot Initiatives Expanding Ballot Access And Protecting Abortion Rights Are Facing A Friday Deadline For The November Ballot
Bloomberg: Turnout At Stake In Michigan Abortion Case: Ballots & Boundaries. “A key ballot-certification deadline is coming up on Friday, so time is short for the Michigan Supreme Court to decide the fate of a typo-marred abortion initiative. The proposed amendment would enshrine a right to abortion and contraception into the state constitution. Proponents are urging the Michigan Supreme Court to compel the petition’s addition to the November statewide ballot. That would [reverse] the Board of State Canvassers, which deadlocked after its Republican members voted against moving forward because printing errors ran some words together on a petition form signed by more than 750,000 Michiganders. ‘Where abortion is on the ballot it’s a huge driver of turnout,’ said Jeff Timmer, a former Michigan GOP official and former member of the Board of State Canvassers. ‘It can definitely add people that would otherwise not be voting in a midterm election, disproportionately aiding Michigan Democrats with younger voters, and the increase in registration of women.’” [Bloomberg Government, 9/7/22]
Detroit News: Abortion, Voting Rights Ballot Initiatives Face Deadline This Week. “The fate of a pair of ballot initiatives seeking to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution and expand voting rights rests this week with the Michigan Supreme Court. Two political consultants from opposing political parties said the placement especially of the abortion rights issue on the ballot could have an enormous effect on the election. Last week, the state’s elections board deadlocked on whether to place the two issues on the Nov. 8 general election ballot for different legal reasons. […] The second initiative, known as Promote the Vote, also failed to make the ballot in a 2-2 deadlock vote as the Republican canvassers sided with an opposition group…The campaign committees for both the abortion and voting rights initiatives have appealed the canvassers’ impasse to the Michigan Supreme Court. The justices have not yet said whether they’ll take the case. But Friday is the deadline for election administrators in all 83 counties to finalize ballots and send them to printers. Absentee ballots have to be legally made available to registered voters starting Sept. 29.” [The Detroit News, 9/6/22]
Michigan Radio: Promote The Vote Ballot Measure Certification Heads To MI Supreme Court. “The question of whether a voting rights amendment will appear on the November is heading to the Michigan Supreme Court. That’s after a state election board deadlocked on sending the amendment, called Promote the Vote, to voters. The two Republican members of the Board of State Canvassers voted against certifying the Promote the Vote ballot measure. The two Democrats voted in favor. The deadlock means the proposal won’t make the ballot without a decision by the courts. Supporters of Promote the Vote say they plan to ask the Michigan Supreme Court to decide the issue. The ballot measure, if passed, would do a number of things, including allowing election officials to accept third party donations, let voters join a permanent absentee ballot list and make sure overseas ballots postmarked before Election Day and received within six days after are still counted.” [Michigan Radio/NPR, 9/1/22]
Revelations About MAGA Voting Machine Breaches Continue To Emerge
Detroit Free Press: Muskegon Prosecutor Appointed To Review Criminal Allegations Against DePerno, Others. “The Muskegon County prosecutor will decide whether the Republican candidate for attorney general, a state lawmaker and others should be criminally charged in connection with their efforts to undermine the results of the 2020 election. DJ Hilson, a Democrat, was appointed Thursday to serve as a special prosecutor over a sweeping investigation into allegations of tampering with voting machines in small, rural Michigan municipalities. The office of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel requested the appointment, noting Republican attorney general candidate Matthew DePerno is among those accused of illegal conduct.” [Detroit Free Press, 9/8/22]
Arizona Republic: Cyber Ninjas CEO Tied To Alleged Breaches Of Voting Machines In Georgia, Michigan. “Arizona Senate President Karen Fann on Tuesday said she was aware he was hired to do ‘audits’ in Georgia and Michigan before he arrived in Arizona. She said she could not comment on the allegations against Logan. ‘I do know that he was contracted to do work in Michigan and Georgia,’ she said in a brief phone interview. ‘He did give us references and said he was contracted to do audit work in those states.’ […] Authorities in Michigan say Logan was part of a conspiracy along with eight other prominent figures in the movement to oust Biden and restore Trump. […] The Arizona Republic in 2021 detailed Logan’s part [in] another Michigan voting case. Logan was one of two consultants tapped to analyze voting machines Trump’s allies obtained from Antrim County.” [The Arizona Republic, 9/6/22]
Detroit News: DePerno Once Said He Had A ‘Lab’ Where He Could Show How To ‘Stuff’ Ballots. “Michigan Republican attorney general candidate Matt DePerno told a crowd last year he had a ‘lab’ where he could take people and show them how election equipment can be manipulated, according to a previously unreported video obtained by The Detroit News. The footage, dated Sept. 9, 2021 and shared in a Facebook group, appears to support some of the allegations brought by Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office, which has said DePerno was involved in an effort to gain access to voting machines in Michigan and run ‘tests’ on them. DePerno, a lawyer from Kalamazoo who rose to prominence advancing unproven election fraud claims, is challenging Nessel to be Michigan’s top law enforcement official. In the video clip, DePerno says Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson was ‘trying to find’ his ‘lab.’” [The Detroit News, 9/2/22]
CNN: Police Investigating How Michigan Voting Machine Wound Up For Sale Online. “Authorities in Michigan are investigating how a missing voting machine from the state wound up for sale on eBay last month for $1,200. The machine was purchased by a cybersecurity expert in Connecticut who alerted Michigan authorities and is now waiting for law enforcement to pick up the device. CNN determined the machine was dropped off at a Goodwill store in Northern Michigan, before being sold last month on eBay by a man in Ohio. […] News of the sold machine comes as authorities in Michigan, Colorado and Georgia are probing apparent efforts to gain unauthorized access to voting machines or obtain data from them following the 2020 election.” [CNN, 9/2/22]
Reuters: Michigan Sheriff Sought To Seize Multiple Voting Machines, Records Show. “A sheriff in Barry County, Michigan, already under state investigation for alleged involvement in an illegal breach of a vote-counting machine, sought warrants in July to seize other machines in an effort to prove former President Donald Trump’s claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election, documents reviewed by Reuters showed. The proposed warrants sought authorization to seize vote tabulators and various election records from the offices of the Barry County and Woodland Township clerks, the documents showed. The two jurisdictions have not been previously identified as targets in the sheriff’s investigation into suspicions that machines in the county were rigged to siphon votes from Trump.” [Reuters, 8/30/22]
MAGA Attempts To Overturn the 2020 Election in Michigan Continue
Detroit Free Press: Lawsuit Wants To ‘Re-Run’ 2020 Election, Voting Experts Say Claims Don’t Add Up. “A federal lawsuit filed Friday against Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson calls for Michigan to “re-run” the 2020 presidential election over unproven and debunked claims of election fraud nearly two years after Michigan voters elected now-President Joe Biden by more than 150,000 votes. […] But Michigan law gives the responsibility to certify election software to the Board of State Canvassers, not the EAC. Election experts have said the suit’s allegations don’t add up, highlighting the various steps officials take ahead of elections to ensure they are accurate and secure, and noting that Michigan law does not require EAC certification.” [Detroit Free Press, 9/8/22]
Democracy Docket: Michigan Republicans Sue To Overturn the Results of the 2020 Presidential Election. “On Friday, Sept. 2, the Macomb County Republican Party, a candidate for Michigan governor, a non-profit organization, voters and a county clerk — who allegedly turned over a vote tabulator to a group espousing unfounded claims of fraud in Michigan’s 2020 election — filed a federal lawsuit challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election in Michigan. […] This lawsuit comes nearly two years after a previous federal lawsuit in which Republicans attempted, but ultimately failed, to decertify the results of Michigan’s 2020 presidential election.” [Democracy Docket, 9/7/22]
Detroit News: Michigan Clerk Who Handed Over Tabulator Sues To Decertify 2020 Election. “A Michigan clerk who allegedly gave a township tabulator to a group advancing unproven claims of fraud in Michigan’s 2020 presidential election has joined a lawsuit to decertify the results, according to court documents. Sharon Olson, the clerk in Barry County’s Irving Township, was one of six plaintiffs in a suit filed Friday in federal court in Michigan’s Western District. The other plaintiffs included the Macomb County Republican Party, U.S. Taxpayers Party candidate for governor Donna Brandenburg of Byron Center and a nonprofit called the Election Integrity Fund and Force. They asked the court to order Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson “work together to rerun the Michigan 2020 presidential election as soon as possible.’” [The Detroit News, 9/6/22]
MLive: Macomb County GOP Asks Federal Court To Decertify The 2020 Election. “Six hundred forty eight days after the results of Michigan’s 2020 election were certified, a coalition of grassroots figures and the Macomb County Republican Party have asked a federal judge to undo that decision. […] The lawsuit alleges there are accreditation issues with voting equipment and equipment testing labs used by Michigan counties, so Whitmer and Benson must ‘decertify’ the election and immediately ‘re-run the 2020 presidential elections.’ It’s not clear that either official has that power, given election certification is a duty that falls to the Board of State Canvassers. Attorneys for the groups ask that the do-over is done ‘with paper ballots only, on a single election day, with the votes being counted by hand, with members of all political parties present to observe, with a public livestream of all vote counting.’” [MLive, 9/6/22]
