Voters Not Politicians today released video footage showing ‘Secure MI Vote’ signature collectors spreading misinformation to Michigan voters to obtain signatures on 5 different petitions, including the petition that would suppress voting in Michigan.
The video, recorded by a volunteer in Kalamazoo, shows a paid circulator telling voters that their signature is needed simply to put the measures on the ballot – when the organizers behind the anti-voter petition, including Michigan GOP Co-Chair Ron Weiser, have said their plan is to get the Legislature to pass the measures into law and bypass the governor and the voters, thanks to a loophole in the state Constitution. The video also shows the collector telling voters that the voter suppression proposal would require two forms of valid signature to vote, which is incorrect, and omitting the fact that the petition would add major hurdles to absentee voting. Similar additional requirements to obtain an absentee voter ballot in Texas are causing election officials to reject thousands of absentee applications.
Current absentee voting measures in Michigan are incredibly popular with Republican, Democrat, and Independent voters alike, and voters deserve to know the real goal of the ‘Secure MI Vote’ voter suppression ballot proposal: to make it much harder to vote in our state.
The same collector received signatures on the petition to eliminate state public health department health emergency powers after telling voters it is “a way to stop COVID from spreading.”
Voters Not Politicians is calling on sponsors of the petition campaigns, including Ron Weiser and Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey to take accountability for their paid signature collectors and stop them from lying to obtain signatures.
“This dishonest campaign is funded by the same leaders who preach integrity in our elections, and is a pattern of deception that can be found in states across the country where voter suppression is rampant and absentee voting rights are at risk. We can not allow duly registered voters to lose their voice in government – these petition circulators must be withdrawn and re-trained,” said Nancy Wang, Executive Director of Voters Not Politicians.
Voters Not Politicians is following petition collectors and informing voters truthfully of the implications of signing the petitions.
During the news conference, VNP leaders reminded reporters that the only evidence of organized election fraud during the 2020 election is the fraudulently signed documents by Michigan Republican Party Co-Chair Meshawn Maddock and other party leaders who falsely represented themselves as the state’s representatives to the Electoral College, in an attempt to deceitfully cast Michigan’s ballots for Donald Trump. More than 250 audits conducted after the election have verified that Joe Biden carried the state by more than 154,000 votes.
“We know that the 2020 election was the safest, most secure and most successful in our nation’s history,” said Wang. “Despite that reality, we know that Meshawn Maddock signed a document swearing that Donald Trump won the election and sent that to the National Archivist, Vice President Mike Pence, the Michigan Secretary of State, and the chief judge of the Western District of Michigan in an effort to overturn the will of the people of Michigan. We encourage a full investigation and prosecution of this election fraud, as we would any fraud that undermines democracy in our state.”
“Voters Not Politicians is proud to be on the front lines fighting for democracy. We urge all Michiganders to reject the voter suppression petitions that are being circulated in our state.”
You can view the video here, and a recording of today’s press conference here.
Is DeVos money paying the LMKL petitioners to gather signatures? Will DeVos be able to make money for herself as a Scholarship Granting Organization?