Michigan: Protecting the right to vote with mail-in or hand-delivered paper ballots

Absentee voting has been standard for as long as I can remember for senior citizens, people in the military, people with disabilities, and others who have trouble accessing in-person voting on Election Day.

In 2018, a Michigan ballot initiative to expand voting rights passed overwhelmingly with bi-partisan support. Michigan now allows absentee voting for anyone requesting an absentee ballot. (Requirements for mail-in voting and absentee voting are exactly the same.)

To vote by paper ballot, go to the Michigan Secretary of State Website on Voter Information and follow these steps to make sure your ballot is counted:

• Register to vote or confirm that you have already registered;
• Apply for an absentee ballot;
• Follow the instructions carefully and fill out the absentee ballot;
• Mail it in or, better yet, hand deliver your ballot to your local polling place.

Michigan election law requires that local clerks’ offices begin mailing requested absentee ballots to voters 40 days before an election. Clerks will start mailing out ballots on September 24, 2020 for the November 3rd election. Vote as early as possible. You can track your ballot on-line to make sure the clerk’s office has received it. Voter registration and absentee voting is allowed up to the day of the election, but see the Voter Information Website for details. You can even change your vote before the election, but again, follow the instructions on absentee voting  carefully. 

Much of the anxiety being whipped up about voter fraud with absentee or mail-in ballots has itself a whiff of fraud about it or at least an apparent intent to deliberately frighten and mislead voters.

This article from the Hill, “Let's put the vote-by-mail 'fraud' myth to rest” by Amber McReynolds and Charles Stewart III, 4/28/20, sums it up in the first two paragraphs:

“Widespread calls to conduct the 2020 elections by mail, to protect voters from COVID-19 exposure, are being met with charges that the system inevitably would lead to massive voter fraud. This is simply not true.

“Vote fraud in the United States is exceedingly rare, with mailed ballots and otherwise. Over the past 20 years, about 250 million votes have been cast by a mail ballot nationally. The Heritage Foundation maintains an online database of election fraud cases in the United States and reports that there have been just over 1,200 cases of vote fraud of all forms, resulting in 1,100 criminal convictions, over the past 20 years. Of these, 204 involved the fraudulent use of absentee ballots; 143 resulted in criminal convictions.”

Read the full article for details.
 

Then there was this warning about voter fraud in Michigan tweeted by Donald Trump, Jr. in August 2020: 

 

“‘8% of the votes cast’ in Michigan’s Aug. 4 primary, 864 mailed ballots, came from dead voters. ‘NOTHING TO SEE HERE!!!’”. None of this was true. 

This article from the Detroit Free Press explains what happened in the August 4th, 2020 primary: “Donald Trump Jr. tweets about dead people voting in Michigan. We fact-checked the claim.” by Clara Hendrickson, 8/18/20: 

“On Aug. 14, the Michigan Secretary of State’s Office released preliminary data on the number of rejected ballots from the state’s Aug. 4 primary. In total, over 10,000 absentee ballots were rejected, including nearly 850 ballots cast by voters who died before Election Day. ..

 

"Nearly 60% of them were rejected because they arrived late. Absentee ballots must be received by the voter’s clerk by 8 p.m. on Election Day in order to be counted

“The remaining rejected ballots were deemed ineligible for a range of reasons, including missing or mismatched signatures or voters who changed addresses.”
 

“Of the rejected ballots, 846 had to be tossed because the voters were deceased. These were not instances of someone completing and mailing an absentee ballot by stealing the identity of a deceased voter. [emphasis added] Rather, as Benson’s Aug. 14 release notes, they were cast by eligible Michigan voters who died after casting their ballots but before Election Day."

The Secretary of State said that ..."Based on the total of counted and uncounted votes, the number of ballots from deceased voters accounted for about 0.03% of votes cast, meaning Trump overstated it by a factor of more than 200. And none of them were counted toward the final results.” [emphasis added]

 

“...Rather than indicating instances of fraud, the rejected ballots show the state’s ability to detect and discount ineligible ballots.”

Secretary Benson said the large number of rejected ballots reflects the need for reform ahead of November’s general election.

And finally, we get to some real voter and election fraud that should give purveyors of fear and misinformation pause. It is not a good look for the Republican Party:

Although there have been herculean efforts to find voter fraud where it does not exist, there is one voter fraud database that is linked to on the White House Website. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, went looking for voter fraud and came up with underwhelming results, but at least the database reveals some of the details of voter or election fraud when it occurs.:
 

The Heritage Foundation “A Sampling of Recent Election Fraud Cases from Across the United States” explains the data it has collected:

“…This database is not an exhaustive or comprehensive list. It does not capture all cases and certainly does not capture reported instances that are not investigated or prosecuted. It is intended to demonstrate the vulnerabilities in the election system and the many ways in which fraud is committed.”

Let’s take a look at the Michigan database.

 
The most recent case on the list involves a 2016 felony conviction for Brandon Hall: 

“Brandon Hall was convicted of ten counts of ballot petition fraud stemming from the 2012 election. [Republican] Chris Houghtaling, who sought to become a candidate for the Ottawa County District Court, hired Hall to acquire the necessary signatures for his candidacy; Houghtaling reportedly did not care whether the signatures were collected legally or illegally, and even assisted in Hall's crime by providing him old 2010 petitions to copy. Hall, realizing he did not collect enough signatures, used a phone book to complete the rest. Hall's friend, Zachary Savage, assisted with the fraud, but prosecutors granted him immunity in exchange for his testimony. Hall appealed his conviction, which was affirmed. He is awaiting sentencing. “

 

That name sounded familiar. I wracked my brain trying to remember where I had heard it before. It finally came to me. Brandon Hall was one of the leaders of the protests in Lansing in April 2020, objecting to the governor’s stay-home order to prevent the spread of Covid-19. According to this article in the Detroit News, “Protesters gather outside the governor's Lansing residence over stay-home order” by Beth LeBlanc, 4/23/20: 

“Protesters carried American flags, Trump 2020 signs and Make America Great Again banners as they stood on sidewalks and in the governor's gated driveway. Some protesters carried firearms while others waited in their cars, honking horns in the residential neighborhood.” 

“…Organizer Brandon Hall of Petoskey estimated roughly 100 people attended the afternoon protest ...

 

"'It's time to open Michigan now,' said Hall, a 30-year-old conservative activist who was long based out of West Michigan. 'People who want to stay on house arrest can stay on house arrest, and people who want to work can work.'.

And then comes the blast of bad news from the past: “A month in jail for GOP politico convicted of 2012 election fraud” by Stephen Kloosterman, 12/27/16 and updated 1/19/19. 

 

It only gets worse:

“It's not the first time Hall has brushed with the law.

“In 2010, Hall was a Grand Haven School Board Member when $750 went missing from an elementary school's T-shirt sale to benefit a national charity. Hall was convicted of stealing and sentenced to two years of probation.

“Hall was also once the subject of a campaign finance complaint from a City Council candidate that his political action committee endorsed, the Grand Haven Tribune reported.”

This is such a bad look for the purveyors of voter fraud anxiety. 

 

In case you are interested, here is a YouTube video of Hall’s sentencing hearing on Dec 27, 2016. He appears to be genuinely sorry that he was caught.

Michigan workers eligible for tuition-free community college and more unemployment benefits

According to an article on Mlive.com, "Michigan front-line workers eligible for tuition-free community college under state program", 9/10/20, by Lauren Gibbons:

"Michigan residents without college degrees who’ve worked through the COVID-19 pandemic can now apply for tuition-free community college, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer announced Thursday morning.

"The Future for Frontliners program, initially announced by the governor in April, is open to workers without an associate or bachelor’s degree who were deemed essential during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"To be eligible, workers must have worked at least part-time for 11 of the 13 weeks between April 1 and June 30 and were required by their job to work outside their home at least some of the time.

"The program is funded by $24 million from the Governor’s Education Emergency Relief, part of the federal funding Michigan received from the CARES Act, according to a press release from the governor’s office. The state estimates 625,000 workers could be eligible for the program...."

In addition, according to another Detroit Free Press article, "State of Michigan: Unemployed workers will receive $300 federal benefit within 10 days" by Adrienne Roberts, 9/10/20:

"Michigan workers filing for unemployment benefits will receive the extra $300 federal benefit within 10 days, the state's Unemployment Insurance Agency said Thursday.

"The payments are retroactive, and will be paid out for the weeks ending Aug. 1, Aug. 8 and Aug. 15 initially, Steve Gray, the director of the UIA, said in a release.

"The benefit, funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is available to states for up to six weeks, which would end Sept. 5. The UIA has applied for the additional three weeks of funding, according to the release..."

For details, read the full article and this update from the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency.

13-year old autistic boy shot by police in Salt Lake City

This is easier to read about than to watch. If you prefer to read about it, this is an article from The Guardian:

"Police shoot 13-year-old boy with autism several times after mother calls for help"
by Kenya Evelyn, 9/8/20

 

Petitions: Read before you sign - statements by petition supporters and the collectors of signatures are sometimes misleading

Here is the short version of this post: A Michigan petition drive is underway to repeal the law that gives the Michigan governor the ability to protect public health and safety during the covid-19 pandemic. Some voters asked to sign the petition have been told that repealing the law will help the governor and small businesses or help hire more police and firefighters. None of this is true. One of the people involved in circulating petitions has a sketchy past involving voter and election fraud.

Read on for the details and political intrigue:

A petition drive is underway in Michigan to repeal a 1945 law granting emergency powers to the Michigan governor. Governor Gretchen Whitmer is using these emergency powers during the Covid-19 pandemic to protect public health and safety, including requiring face masks in enclosed public spaces, and regulating activities that can spread the Covid-19 virus and make it harder to control.

There is fierce opposition to the Governor’s actions, although, in general, governors who have taken strict measure on coronavirus have seen better political outcomes than those who have not. (According to a Washington Post article from 7/31/20 by Amber Phillips, Governor Whitmer has an approval rating of about 64%). Furthermore, the Michigan Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that said that Whitmer had not exceeded her authority under the Emergency Powers Act. The Michigan Supreme Court was scheduled to hear oral arguments on September 2, 2020 on a case challenging her use of executive powers.

According to an article in the on-line magazine Bridge Michigan, “The Michigan Constitution sets signature thresholds for petition drives at 8 percent of the total turnout in the most recent gubernatorial election. While there are 7.7 million registered voters in Michigan, about 4.25 million cast ballots in the 2018 election that Whitmer won by nearly 10 percentage points over Republican Bill Schuette.”

The organization collecting signatures is called Unlock Michigan . It needs to collect to collect at least 340,047 valid signatures within 180 days (by early January 2021), according to Michigan law. “…organizers hope to get the initiative to the Legislature this year while they are still guaranteed a GOP majority in the state House. Passage by the legislature under these circumstances does not allow a veto by the governor.”

If the legislature repeals the 1945 law that gives the governor emergency powers to control the Covid-19 pandemic without legislative approval, is the legislature willing to step up to its responsibility to protect public safety by agreeing to approve emergency measures under a 1976 law that requires legislative approval of the governor’s actions? Who do they fear more? Their supporters who aggressively oppose controls or the pandemic that has ravaged the country for 6 months with over 100,000 cases in Michigan and close to 7,000 deaths?

Petition drives to place an issue on a ballot for a vote are not unusual. The controversy here is about the bait-and-switch tactics of the people hired to collect signatures and questions about the sketchy reputation of the company they work for.

Funding for the “Unlock Michigan” campaign comes mostly from a group with ties to Michigan Senate Republicans

An article in the Detroit News, “Mystery money fuels campaign to limit Whitmer's emergency powers” by Craig Mauger, 7/27/20, looks into funding for "Unlock Michigan".

“The group collecting petitions to limit Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's emergency powers is primarily being funded by a nonprofit that doesn't have to disclose its donors."

…“Michigan Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility, a Lansing-based organization with ties to Senate Republicans, gave $660,200 to Unlock Michigan from June 9 through July 20, according to a new campaign finance report.”

…“Under Michigan law, ballot proposal committees, like Unlock Michigan, can receive money from corporate donors and unions, including nonprofits that raise their funds from elsewhere. The chain of giving effectively conceals the original source of the money.” [Emphasis added]   

…“Unlock Michigan released its first campaign finance disclosure on Monday. Of the $765,024 the group raised through July 20, 86% of the money came from Michigan Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility, which spent about $1.1 million backing GOP Michigan Senate candidates in 2018, according to the Michigan Campaign Finance Network.”

Unlock Michigan hires a firm to circulate petitions that subcontracts to a circulator with a criminal record
 

This is according to an article in the Detroit Free Press, “Unlock Michigan petition circulator has criminal record, history of 'bait and switch' by Paul Egan, 8/28/20:

“The owner of a firm collecting signatures to repeal a law granting emergency powers to Michigan's governor has a criminal record for falsifying his voter registration and a history of alleged ‘bait and switch’ tactics in paid petition drives around the U.S.”

The individual in question is Mark Jacobi, a subcontractor to National Petition Management, the firm Unlock Michigan hired to head up its drive to collect about 500,000 signatures.

“Mark A. Jacoby, 37, whose company, Let the Voters Decide, is publicizing that it will pay petition circulators $3.50 for each valid signature to repeal the Emergency Powers of Governor Act of 1945, was arrested for suspected voter registration fraud and perjury in California and pleaded guilty in 2009 to a lesser charge of registering to vote at an address where he did not live.”

Unlock Michigan disputes the involvement of Jacoby in the collection of signatures, but Jacoby said he is a subcontractor to National Petition Management, the firm Unlock Michigan hired to head up its drive to collect about 500,000 signatures. 


According to the Detroit News [from "Mystery Money"], “As of July 20, Unlock Michigan had paid National Petition Management $300,000 in the relatively early stages of the petition drive, records show." , The Detroit News]

So, think before you sign and make sure you understand what you are signing.

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For more political intrigue from The DD News Blog, read about the 2012 Proposition 4 campaign involving state advocacy groups and fines for campaign finance violations.

Michigan: Election Shenanigans 2020, Part I

It's election season again, and there are various schemes afoot to discourage us from voting or to deceive us in some way so that we aren't thinking straight when we do vote. 

This article in the Detroit Free Press, "Michigan election, legal chiefs decry 'racist' robocall that attacks mail-in voting" by Dave Boucher, 8/27/20, describes a robocall that is going around in Detroit:

 

"The top elections and legal officials in Michigan jointly denounced a robocall making the rounds in Detroit on Thursday, labeling it a racist and inaccurate attempt to dissuade the use of mail-in voting.

 

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Attorney General Dana Nessel said they want to warn residents that other misinformation campaigns are likely to crop up as the Nov. 3 general election draws near. "

Here is a YouTube version of the call.

The call claims that "voters who apply for and use absentee ballots are providing personal information that may be used by police to exercise warrants, credit card companies to collect debts and the CDC to 'track people for mandatory vaccines.'"

None of this is true.

"Don't be (inaudible) into giving your private information to the man. Stay safe, and beware of vote by mail," the robocall states.

"Nationally, President Donald Trump and other Republicans continue to repeat false claims about mail-in voting, arguing the process may lead to a rigged or corrupt election. Experts say vote-by-mail does not give an advantage to either political party and election fraud in any form is incredibly rare." 

According to the Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, it's a felony under Michigan law to deter or otherwise disrupt a person trying to vote. Someone convicted of this offense could face a $1,000 fine and up to five years in prison. 

Anyone who receives a suspected robocall should report that information at www.mi.gov/robocall and email the information to elections@michigan.gov, according to the news release

The President suggested in August that he will send law enforcement to monitor polls, a tactic that is well-known for voter intimidation. It turns out that is illegal, too, so he must have been kidding.

Here are two documents [one & two] on Michigan and Federal Election Day Offenses to consider before voting for the Tuesday, November 3rd, 2020 election.

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More voting information ...

What is known and unknown about Covid-19 so far

This post is based on an article from statnews.com, “Seven months later, what we know — and don't know — about Covid-19” by Andrew Joseph,Helen Branswell ,and Elizabeth Cooney, 8/17/2020. This is a newsletter on health related issues. Stat.com also has a subscription newsletter, STAT PLUS, with “Exclusive analysis of biotech, pharma, and the life sciences”

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According to the article, this is what we know:

Children: Teenagers should not be lumped together with children under 5. Teenagers seem to shed the virus at a similar rate to adults. It is not clear that younger children do this.

However, “A recently published report from a Georgia sleep-away camp shows how quickly the virus can spread among kids. The camp had to be closed within 10 days of starting its orientation for camp staffers, because within days of children arriving, kids and staff started getting sick. (The campers ranged in age from 6 to 19.) The camp did not require campers to wear face masks.”

“…a small proportion of children infected with Covid-19 go on to develop a condition where multiple organs come under attack from their own immune system. Called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children or MIS-C, this condition seems to occur about two to four weeks after Covid-19 infection. Most children who develop this syndrome recover.”

Some settings are safer than others: There is a threshold level of virus that you need to be exposed to in order to become infected.

“Essentially, the closer you are to someone infectious and the longer you’re in contact with them, the more likely you are to contract the virus, which helps explain why so much transmission occurs within households. Being indoors is worse, particularly in rooms without sufficient ventilation; the more air flow, the faster the virus gets diluted. Everyday face coverings reduce the amount of virus projected, but aren’t total blockades.”

People can be contagious before they become sick and some people remain asymptomatic but still shed the virus. People who continue to test positive for the virus after they have been ill, may not be contagious at that point.

Lingering effects of the virus in some people: ‘Long-haulers’ don’t feel like they’ve recovered: 

“Unusually sticky blood can clog vessels on the way to the heart and inside the brain and lungs of infected people, causing heart attacks, strokes, and deadly pulmonary embolisms. There are growing worries that these and other health effects will be long-lasting...”

Vaccine development: “…an extraordinary amount of progress toward Covid-19 vaccines has been made, in record time. …That means vaccination with fully approved vaccines could begin as soon as about a year after the discovery of the new virus. This constitutes a revolution in vaccine development.”

How many have been infected? “There have been 21 million confirmed cases of Covid-19 around the world, and 5.3 million in the United States. Far more people than that have actually had the virus.

“Problems with testing, and its limited availability, have contributed to that gap, as has the fact that some people have such mild or no symptoms that they don’t know they’re infected. But researchers don’t know just how big of a gulf they’re dealing with — how much spread they’ve missed.” 

Mutations occur relatively infrequently compared to other viruses and have been inconsequential so far.

The virus on surfaces (“fomites”) does not seem to play a major role in transmission, but frequent hand washing and cleaning of surfaces is still recommended. 

Reinfection with covid-19: It appears that having the virus gives some immunity to it, but it is not known how long that will last. “Some scientists have theorized that on subsequent infections, immune systems might mount quicker responses to Covid-19, leading to milder infections. If that’s true, the SARS-CoV-2 virus might transition into a less daunting threat over time. But it’s still a big unknown…”“ 

It’s not clear why some people get really sick, and some don’t

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Read the full article to see illustrations and links to more information about Covid-19.

Labeling Group Homes as "mini institutions" restricts choice and discourages innovation

This is an article from VOR, a Voice Of Reason, published in the Spring 2020 edition of The VOR Voice .

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Homes for Life 

By Micki Edelsohn

On a lovely spring day in 1972, I held my youngest son Robert for the first time not knowing that this little baby would change the trajectory of my life. Birth injuries that occurred during that difficult delivery resulted in Robert suffering significant intellectual disabilities. As the extent of these disabilities slowly unfolded, I knew that Robert’s challenges would be different from his older brother and yet my goals for him were the same. Robert would get the best education possible to reach his full potential and someday hold a job, live in his own home and enjoy life in his community.

In 1989 I had a small dream. I would find a way to raise the funds to build a group home where Robert could live with his peers when he completed his schooling. There were a few group homes in Delaware; but my vision of what a group home should look like was quite different! It should be in a beautiful, safe community near all appropriate amenities. When my first group home was completed other families liked what they saw, and the State of Delaware asked for more. My husband Lanny and I then established Homes For Life Foundation and, thanks to the generous and ongoing support of the Delaware community and friends around the country as well as corporations and foundations, we have built and furnished 25 debt free group homes and purchased two condos. Today one hundred and four deserving men and women now have a safe and comfortable place to live and enjoy life. Their intellectual disabilities range from high functioning with drop-in support to high needs with 24/7 awake staff.

It didn’t take long to appreciate that building the homes was the easy part. Finding caring, dedicated and competent staff would turn out to be the difficult part. Ironically in the 1990’s, as I was fundraising and building four-person group homes, the State of Delaware approached The Arc of Delaware requesting that they become a landlord by providing homes for those with IDD. I was a board member of the Arc of Delaware at the time. When the Homes For Life homes began to multiply we recognized that as an all-volunteer non-profit organization with no staff to provide property management, we voted to deed each property to The Arc of Delaware for $1.00. The organizational arrangement was as follows: 

• Homes For Life would build and furnish the homes.
• Homes For Life then deeded the homes to the Arc of Delaware for $1. The Arc became the landlord responsible for upkeep of the homes, including a maintenance reserve fund.
• The State of Delaware contracted with provider agencies to support the residents living in the homes and compensate the agencies according to the acuity of the disability of the residents in the homes.
• The residents in the homes would always have the right to change provider agencies if they felt that their needs were not met.

When the last home was donated in 2009 the value of the homes was approximately 10 million dollars. Each home was HCBS waivered. Little by little I began to understand CMS and the Medicaid system. The Medicaid funds are the “lion’s share” of lifetime support due to the costs of direct care for persons with IDD. Each home is only as good as the Direct Support Professionals and the managers who, despite inadequate wages, make a house a home.

It was during this time, that I met many other Delawareans whose adult family members were longing for a more independent life. I also became acquainted with The Mary Campbell Center in Wilmington, a 55 bed ICF with amazing amenities for those with higher needs and medical complexities. I found others online like VOR members Tamie Hopp and Jill Barker, and I met people from across the country who shared my views that a “one size fits all” solution would not be sustainable.

In 2011, I was appointed to the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities (PCPID). This position gave me more insight into the way services were being allocated, and the ideological direction the agencies administering DD services were taking. At that time CMS began reviewing and changing HCBS regulations. The Administration on Aging and the Administration on Disabilities were combined into the Administration for Community Living (ACL), taking the focus from the needs of the individual to a determination to support a single service model of “community living.” The push to move people from ICFs was well underway, and now various government agencies were shifting again and urging families to keep their loved ones in the family home as a new “alternative.”

I had to accept the sad reality that not only were ICF’s no longer being presented as an option by most states’ departments of disability services, but HCBS waiver models were also being deemed congregate, even 4 person homes. By 2010 our Delaware DDS director was no longer requesting the group home model from Homes For Life. Our group homes were now referred to as “mini-institutions.”

So today, as Robert turns 48, I am no longer a “home builder” but an activist working to ensure that all voices are heard and all housing and work opportunities are valued and receive the funding streams needed to meet all people with IDD, especially those with the highest needs. Those with IDD, regardless of severity, have the right to choose where and with whom they would like to live whether it be in an ICF, a group home, an intentional community, an apartment, a farmstead or in their own home with their family members.

When I first started this journey, I never imagined where it would take me or what wonderful people I would meet along the way. For me, life’s great irony is learning that, although we start out by simply wanting to care and provide for our own very special children, we discover that to do so we must embrace every child.