Fraud or No Fraud, Restraining the Vote is the Purpose
Much of Michigan is touting Republican State Senator Ed McBroom who led an investigation into Michigan’s supposed voting fraud. He found none and openly admitted there was none in his report. Senator and dairy farmer Ed McBroom also called for the prosecution of those who capitalized on the supposed voting fraud by starting defense funds and collecting donations. He also called upon the Democrat Michigan AG to investigate those who were promoting voting lies for monetary gain. And especially those who did so using the Antrim County saga.
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Bridge Michigan: A U.P. senator stood up to Trump. His career may suffer. His cows don’t care.
That report, authored by McBroom and adopted last week by the Republican-led Senate Oversight Committee, capped a nearly eight-month investigation into the 2020 election by diving deep into conspiracy theories and debunking them with devastating specificity.
There is no evidence of widespread or systematic fraud in Michigan, and people should be confident in the results, McBroom wrote. The dead didn’t vote, ballot machines weren’t manipulated and the attorney general should investigate those making false claims for personal gain, he added.
Trump, who continues to claim the election was “rigged,” responded in predictable fashion: Over three consecutive days, he accused McBroom of a “cover up,” suggested he may be “corrupt” and urged supporters to “overthrow” the first-term senator in the 2022 election.
Slate: “Michigan Republican Who Stood Up to Trump’s Fraud Claims, Still Wants to Restrict the Vote, Because of ‘Fraud‘”
But the biggest issue with McBroom is while McBroom’s report touts the truth, McBroom himself is still calling for changes to the state’s election system. And his reason for supporting bills that would require ID for mail-in ballots and in-person voting? Fraud . . .
MLIVE Michigan: Michigan Senate passes controversial election bills that put emphasis on ID requirements
The Michigan Senate approved three bills Wednesday that would change some of the state’s election laws, putting an emphasis on ID requirements for in-person voters.
Should the Republican-backed election bills become law, absentee voters would have to take additional steps to ensure their ballot is counted.
The controversial election reform bills passed the Michigan Senate along party lines Wednesday amid contentious debate over the purpose of the legislation.
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In the end and after an eight month investigation and there being no findings of voting fraud in Michigan, the UP diary farmer Senator Ed McBroom, idolized in all the news print and reports, is calling for new voting laws. This also comes after the mostly Republican Michigan county and township clerks testified to there was no fraud.
McBroom:
“the bills should not be seen as challenging the validity of the November election, but as ways to tighten ‘safeguards’ from ‘real vulnerabilities.’
I have been reassured by the resilience of our election system, but while the system’s safeguards held, real vulnerabilities do exist. To ensure the long-term health and viability of elections in our state, these issues must be resolved, and the reforms introduced today will address those problems and help modernize and secure our election laws now and in the future.
We must strive to assure all people that every election is worthy of their participation.”
Michigan Senate GOP debuts election reforms critical of Secretary of State’s handling of November election – mlive.com
If I get a chance, I will search for the vulnerabilities McBroom and Republicans claim exist. The old you can vote twice if you receive a mail-in-ballot just by showing up at the polls. This possibility does not exist. When you go to vote, they check the register and the mail-in-ballot shows up there.
Republicans know there’s no voter fraud. This is all about raising money and fear-mongering the GOP base. Shame.
Arizona secretary of state asks state attorney general to investigate possible election interference by Donald Trump, allies
Arizona Republic via USAToday
Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs on Wednesday asked Attorney General Mark Brnovich to open a criminal investigation into possible efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to influence Maricopa County supervisors as the ballots were still being tallied.
Hobbs said some of the communications “involve clear efforts to induce supervisors to refuse to comply with their duties,” which could violate Arizona law. She cited The Arizona Republic’s reporting last week on text messages and voicemails from the White House, Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, and Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward to the Republican members of the Board of Supervisors.
A spokesman for Brnovich was not immediately available to comment on Hobbs’ request, which was emailed directly to the attorney general shortly after 1 p.m.
The request for a legal review is freighted with political overtones.
Hobbs, a Democrat, is running for governor next year. She created a national profile for defending Arizona’s election administration efforts when November presidential election results were among the closest in the country. Arizona was spotlighted by Trump and his allies as they promoted the false narrative of a stolen election.
Brnovich, a Republican, is running for the U.S. Senate next year. Trump has criticized Brnovich for not supporting the state Senate’s ongoing ballot review. Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld an Arizona law Brnovich defended that makes voting more difficult, something he has cast as part of his commitment to preserving election integrity. …
It is an example of shifting the Overton window. While Trump makes ridiculous claims he makes less extreme stuff sound reasonable. It is an odd example however, as half of us don’t really listen to him, so there is one window for Democrats and a different one for Republicans.
“According to Overton, the window frames the range of policies that a politician can recommend without appearing too extreme to gain or keep public office given the climate of public opinion at that time.”
trump’s politics did not have a range of acceptance amongst us who understood his broad swings. I was always outside of his window’s range. He did play it correctly for many people by appealing to their likes and dislikes.
PBS/American Experience recently ran a 3-part BBC series called ‘The rise of The Nazis’ ( first aired in the UK in Sept 2019. In the series, we see many of the tactics Hitler used to rise to power. If they seem eerily familiar it is because over the past six-yrs we have seen Trump employ these same tactics. Is it Trump, Steve Bannon, or Stephen Miller, who’s the student of the Nazis, Hitler? For all appearances, it was Trump himself.
ken:
Trump has a bad life style. Due to it and if he passed on in his sleep, it would be a favor to the US. His agitating lies would no longer be heard or used as stimulation for resurrection. If they gave a national funeral for his overweight ass, who would come? Would there be a trump presidential library?
“If they gave a national funeral for his overweight ass, who would come?”
As Christopher Hitchens once quipped about another obese blowhard: “If they gave him an enema, they could have buried him in a matchbox.”
Joel,
Not just for money or riling up their base, it is to win elections. GA’s legislation will make it almost impossible for Warnock to return to the Senate. In AZ, their legislation is going to drive down minority voters, the reason Biden and Kelly won.
Just the effect on Native American voters might be enough to defeat Kelly.
@EM,
The GOP is using phony claims of election fraud to raise money and rile up their base in order to win elections. They are all linked.
At this point, Democrats have to fund-raise and rally their voters to turn out in the mid-terms. The GOP isn’t passive. Democrats can’t afford to be.
Joel,
I’m all in for turnout, but without a voting rights bill (and the chance of that is slim), AZ and GA will go red. Not that the GOP will get more votes, but it is more important who counts those votes. AZ is not as bad as GA, but it is close.
Warnock has no chance at all, even if Dems turn out in record numbers.