Michigan was the epicenter of some of the most egregious lies that the 2020 election was stolen. The effort to overturn the results in favor of former President Donald generated some bizarre headlines. The state was the scene of Rudy Giuliani’s infamous COVID-19 flatulence, where one of his witness’ incoherent ramblings earned a Saturday Night Live roasting. It is also the state on which Trump released the ill-fated Kraken.
Although those efforts ultimately failed and more than 250 audits confirmed the election’s integrity, a ballot initiative is underway to change Michigan voting law as a direct result of those falsehoods.
The very ballot initiative ostensibly designed to root out fraud in Michigan is itself fraught with fraud. There are multiple reports of canvassers lying, misleading, and forging signatures. The group behind the initiative, Secure MI Vote, has even admitted that thousands of signatures its paid canvassers gathered were forged. Critics also say that Secure MI Vote’s initiative is unnecessary and designed to make it harder to vote, including for marginalized and minority voters.
Nancy Wang, executive director of Voters Not Politicians, told the Daily Dot that the issues they’re seeing with the Secure MI Vote initiative are unprecedented. “We haven’t seen fraud like this before,” Wang said.
In response to such reports, the nonpartisan Voters Not Politicians launched an online tool for people to report canvassers lying to and misleading people.
Voters Not Politicians obtained a recording of a Secure MI Vote canvasser lying to voters to induce them to sign the petition. While unethical, it’s perfectly legal, Wang said. “They can actually legally lie to people.”
In the video, a circulator told people that the petition is to require valid ID to vote. When one person pointed out that Michigan already requires ID to vote, the circulator said that the petition requires two forms of ID. It doesn’t.
One of the people refused to sign. The other, who’d just signed it, said they wished they hadn’t.
Then the canvasser lied again.
“It’s not saying you’re for or against it,” they said, assuring them that if they get enough signatures, then the initiative will go on the ballot and people in the state can vote on it.
That’s not true.
If Secure MI Vote gets enough signatures, the Republican-controlled legislature can simply vote it into law, circumventing the governor’s veto. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) previously vetoed nearly identical legislation.
Both Reyes and Wang are among those who believe that the Republican-backed and dark money-funded effort is designed to suppress turnout among groups who historically tend to vote for Democrats.
“The whole package will disproportionately affect people who have fewer options to vote,” said Wang.
“They’re turning the citizen’s initiative on its head,” Wang said.
“It’s infuriating,” she added. “It’s also frightening.”
This story was originally published by Daily Dot. Read more here: https://www.dailydot.com/debug/gop-ballot-initiative-secure-mi-vote-fraud-lies/
