Only the Muskegon clerk reported suspicious voter registrations. Here's why.
By David Howell, Elizabeth Ayoub, and Patrice Johnson
This fall Mitch Albom will release his latest book, The Littlest Liar, about a Jewish boy during World War II. The child is approached by soldiers who recruit him with a false narrative and ask him to assist in rounding up people in his neighborhood to board the train. The youth, not seeing any potential risks or danger, does as is asked until….
Weeks before an election, clerks across Michigan are busier than ever. Many of these elected officials work part-time for their townships and some hold a second full-time job. This fact , combined with the latest developments in the Muskegon Voter Registration Fraud investigation, raises questions for anyone concerned about the integrity of Michigan’s elections.
Recent revelations of conversations among clerks in a Facebook group have changed the narrative as to the role that Michigan clerks played in the fraudulent registration process. As The Gateway Pundit (TGP) reported in a series of articles on the Muskegon voter registration fraud, the number of Michigan clerks involved in the Facebook group is unknown. But posts by at least some clerks in this group reveal that they saw the submitted registrations firsthand and opined them to be fraudulent.
One clerk (name redacted) even complained that entering the suspect names took her deputy two-and-a-half hours:
Weeks before the November 2020 general election these clerks received boxes and packages filled with hundreds, sometimes thousands, of completed voter registrations and requests for absentee ballots. Based upon the Facebook messages that TGP authors Benjamin Wetmore, Patty McMurray, and Jim Hoft uncovered, many clerks in this group realized that something was wrong.
Some of the clerks shared screen shots of the discrepancies which included unverifiable home addresses and applications bearing similar handwriting.
One clerk reported an application for a dead dog.
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Screenshots included clerks sharing the return return postal address of a hotel in Auburn Hills.
Based on TGP’s and other recent investigations, "EM" had set up a temporary office at an Auburn Hills hotel, and "EM" stood for Empower Michigan, a non-profit organization. EM also shared a building in Lansing with the Michigan Democratic Party headquarters. As further evidence of collaboration, GBI Strategies' employees either wore or distributed Empower Michigan T-shirts while canvassing, surveying and registering voters.
Under Michigan law (MCL 168.933a) a clerk is required to or should report suspicious information. The failure of many clerks to do so is a travesty.
The foundation of this country rests upon election integrity. Everyone who registers voters, processes ballots, or tabulates results must perform their duties with integrity. Everyone who casts a ballot must vote with integrity. Any missing or corroded link in the chain erodes election integrity and harms this nation.
As far as the public records indicate, one clerk alone, Muskegon’s Ann Meisch, notified the local police.
Clerk Ann Meisch, Muskegon, appears to have been the only clerk to contact her local police and report the suspected fraudulent registrations.
The clerks’ near universal silence recently came to light through the investigative efforts of The Gateway Pundit reporters. This reporting exemplifies the value of what is sometimes called the Fourth Estate, the power of the press to advocate, frame political issues, and expose the truth.
Information revealed through investigative reporting and citizen researchers constitutes an important check and balance on those we entrust with leadership positions. It is also true that another foundation of this country is that every person is innocent until proven guilty. (Contrary to recent progressive talking points, this right to be considered innocent until proven guilty is an absolute protection articulated in the U.S. Constitution. See Kara Hope video clip below)
Questions remain as to why, of Michigan’s 1,520 election clerks, only one hero reported what she suspected were unlawful registrations. The law is clear. To falsify registrations is a felony. According to 52 U.S. Code § 20511 violators are subject to criminal penalties consisting of fines and up to five years in prison.
A person, including an election official, who in any election for Federal office-
(2) knowingly and willfully deprives, defrauds, or attempts to deprive or defraud the residents of a State of a fair and impartially conducted election process, by—
(A) the procurement or submission of voter registration applications that are known by the person to be materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent under the laws of the State in which the election is held;
Why the cone of silence?
Despite the clarity of the law and even though clerks are accountable to those who elected them, they will tell you they fell silent out of fear, fear of reprisal from the Secretary of State’s and Board of Elections offices, fear of political repercussions, and fear of losing their jobs.
Those of us who stand afar may feel tempted to ask, Why did the clerks fail to do what they should have done?
In this state where Michigan's Attorney General indicted 16 allegedly “fake electors"; in this nation where anyone associated with certain politicians is targeted; where those who attended a rally on Jan. 6, 2021, were mprisoned without trial or bail for more than two years; where the FBI labels parents who advocate for their children at school board meetings as “domestic terrorists”; where government agencies silenced Twitter and Facebook posts for political reasons—It might be wise for clerks and Michigan citizens to look to one another and ask, “What is going on?" and "How can we do our duty to improve the government and preserve our unalienable rights?”
Clerks and each of us need to realize that our actions are not inconsequential. Just as clerks play an important role in protecting the integrity of elections, so too each citizen has an important role to play in preserving and protecting the republic against enemies foreign and domestic.
Fear muzzled the clerks–or as in the case of The Littlest Liar, perhaps they were unaware of what was happening, until….
# # #
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