Republicans cry foul as Michigan lawmakers change key election law: 'Voters should be outraged'

Outrage is brewing over Michigan's Democratic-dominated House and Senate changing election laws in a way Republicans say is risky.

“Senate Bills 603 and 604, among other changes, remove powers of inquiry of board of collectorsinstead of requiring the board to refer any allegations of fraud to the appropriate county attorney, rather than making a count,” according to The Center Square.

“Only alleged errors could merit a recount, and only when the alleged errors could change election results,” the report continues.

The Michigan House originally approved the bill last Thursday. The Michigan Senate then passed it on Tuesday, sparking massive outrage.

The problem, Republicans say, is that right now withdrawals based only on allegations of fraud/error are allowed, but with the bill enshrined in law, the fraud allegations will officially be too small to merit a withdrawal.

Michigan voters should be outraged at the Democrats for passing this bill today that allows election corruption!

Watch the rest of my speech here: https://t.co/XLaaBXXVkd pic.twitter.com/wyRTMpq4QO

— Jim Runestad (@SenJRunestad) June 18, 2024

“Somehow the Democrats got it into their heads that if they all clicked and sang 'there's no place like home' the world would be filled with rainbows and sunshine and all the crime they would magically disappear,” says Rep. Greg Markkanen. said in a statement.

“That's not how things work in the real world. Passing a law that cripples the checks and balances of our electoral system only deepens public distrust. The world is full of bad people who can do bad things, including rigging our elections. Our system must be robust and equipped with all the necessary tools to uncover and investigate all discrepancies,” he added.

State Rep. Rachelle Smit, the Republican vice chair of the Michigan House Elections Committee, agreed.

“Under current law, vote recounts can be made based on allegations of fraud or error, but the legislation voted on today not only eliminates fraud as grounds for a recount, but also states that the recount requests can only allege an error and require that they be made based on the idea that the election results would have been different without that error,” he said.

According to The Center Square, however, the Campaign Legal Center testified in support of the bill.

“SB 603 will make important clarifications and changes to the current recount process to help prevent potential abuse of the system and to ensure that recounts are conducted only in situations where discrepancies could change the outcome,” the center said. “SB 603 will protect the recount process from being used for partisan purposes.”

The Center is a remarkably left-wing organization:

Our democracy thrives when LGBTQIA+ Americans are equal participants, from the ballot box to elected office. Any obstacle that prevents the members of the #LGBTQIA community to participate in the electoral process undermines our democracy.#PrideMonth pic.twitter.com/WlhYZWC73n

— Campaign Legal Center (@CampaignLegal) June 17, 2024

Meanwhile, a press release from Markkanen notes that Republicans have been expressing concern for some time about certain flawed election processes that are ripe for “possible fraud.”

“This includes having no system in place to prevent someone from voting in multiple states,” the press release said. “In fact, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson did not remove 170,000 names of people who no longer lived in the state from the voter rolls, and finally did so after being sued.”

Benson is a Democrat, of course.

“Under Benson's leadership, Michigan has more registered voters than people over the age of 18, putting the state's voter registration rate at 102.8 percent,” the press release noted.

Obviously, this is a problem: Republicans have been screaming for years, only to be ignored by Democrats. Right now, Benson is reportedly facing a lawsuit from the Republican National Committee that alleges his refusal to maintain accurate voter rolls is a violation of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993.

“If Secretary Benson continues to have a 102% success rate, I think she should consider coaching the Tigers or the Pistons. I'd love to see her win more games than the teams are scheduled,” Markkanen said in a communicated

“Democrats are trying to create a world where they can celebrate whatever fact they make up for the day while removing our ability to question anything. Elections don't become safe just because someone says so; Election security happens when we take the time to scrutinize the results and consider all possible issues, whether it's human error or criminal fraud,” he added.

Senior Staff Writer
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V. Saxena is a writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.

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