Shades of GBI Strategies in Minnesota • Colbeck on deck • Board of State Canvassers considers dueling non-citizen voting proposals

By Kristine Christlieb, MFEI News & Commentary Editor

July 14, 2025

Shades of GBI Strategies

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (July 8, 2025) — On Tuesday, the second of two Nevada residents pleaded guilty to filing out fraudulent voter registration forms in Minnesota.

According to a statement from the District of Minnesota’s United States Attorney’s Office (USAO), Ronnie Williams and Lorraine Lee Combs conspired “to engage in voter registration fraud.”

The Hill is reporting Combs “agreed to a sentencing deal and will serve six months in prison and up to three years on supervised release.”

Using fake information and identification, Combs and Williams, both in their late fifties, filled out “hundreds” of fraudulent voter registration forms then turned them over to “a foundation” which paid for each form they submitted. The Hill says the foundation involved is not named in court documents. The USAO statement also avoids naming the foundation, only identifying it as “Foundation 1, an organization focused on voter registration efforts in Minnesota.”

American Experiment, however, connected the dots and identified the Minneapolis-based Anika Foundation as the funding source. That’s the organization who accepted the fraudulent voter registrations and paid for them.

Influence Watch says the Anika Foundation is legally nonpartisan but “its voter engagement, done mostly through the “Black Votes Matter MN” program, is often organized around center-left and left-of-center policies and candidates.”

American Experiment notes two key items. First, the USAO statement reveals “Foundation 1 forwarded the false applications to county election offices throughout the state.” Second, American Experiment pointed out: “It was revealed in open court today that Williams and Combs worked as contractors for the Anika Foundation. It was not revealed to what extent, if any, the Foundation was aware of their fraud.

Colbeck on Deck with House Election Integrity Committee

LANSING, Mich. — Michigan House Speaker Pro Tempore Rachelle Smit is calling Patrick Colbeck to testify before the House Election Integrity Committee on Tuesday, July 15.

Since early this year, Smit has been bringing election administration experts before the committee, accumulating evidence and questioning witnesses who are documenting a wide array of problems.

Colbeck, a former member of the Michigan Senate and an aerospace engineer with an advanced degree in the field, has become an expert on voting machine technology and is the author of The 2020 Coup: What Happened. What We Can Do.

Board of State Canvassers Considering Dueling Non-Citizen Voting Proposals

xAI (GROK) used to research this article

LANSING, Mich. (July 11, 2025) — There are now three, non-citizen-voting ballot proposals floating around. Two are being put forward by Paul Jacob and Americans for Citizen Voting (ACV) and another, which was approved in April, has the backing of House Majority Floor Leader Bryan Posthumus.

At Friday’s Board of State Canvasser’s meeting, members considered the two proposals from Americans for Citizen Voting.

The summary language and forms for both of ACV’s petitions were approved. Jacob says ACV submitted a second proposal in case the first was blocked. He anticipates going with the second proposal. Jacob noted that their second proposal offers clearer rules and penalties and doesn’t require legislative action, unlike the Posthumus-backed proposal, which involves the Legislature creating a program to ensure citizens facing hardship can access necessary voting documents.

3/4/3 Three Stories … Three Minutes

July 14, 2025

• Shades of GBI Strategies in Minnesota

• Colbeck on deck

• Board of State Canvassers considers dueling non-citizen voting proposals