GOP Makes a Case for Election Fraud in Detroit
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Election Fraud Press Conference with RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel
Chris Schornak had a busy, yet pleasant, election day as a poll challenger in Royal Oak. He counted absentee ballots and personally witnessed about ten that couldn’t be matched or verified. “Everything went flawlessly.” To say he was shellshocked when he moved over to Detroit is an understatement. “Into words? The whole thing was a ‘s*** show.’”
Kristina Karamo had a similar experience; except she spent 37 hours in Detroit. She said a majority of the poll workers were very nice, but after the polls closed, the atmosphere drastically changed. It was clear marching orders had been given from on high.
Karamo herself witnessed multiple issues, including invalid ballots being pushed through. For example, a ballot had clear markings for straight-party Republicans and Democrats. When she tried to challenge the ballot, the poll workers and their supervisors insisted they should count for Biden and pushed it through.
Schornak said he experienced similar situations. “I watched them not verify ballots; they couldn’t verify addresses, the ballot number—nothing—but they’ve still passed it through and counted it. Complete fraud.”
Schornak claims, “the poll workers who were paid were trained to block us, ignore us, not share any information.”
There have been multiple reports that Republicans were underrepresented and unable to watch the absentee ballots be counted properly. Republicans and Democrats are supposed to be together at a table, but poll challengers believe it was mostly one-sided. Karamo applied to be a paid poll worker herself but was not selected.
Concerns were addressed about the spread of Covid-19 from the poll workers, but GOP challengers noted left-leaning groups were not pushed out like Republicans. The challengers who asked questions were met with hostility, insults, and slander.
Schornak was accused of threatening a poll worker and was briefly detained by the police, but he was quickly released. Karamo witnessed a Democrat accuse Republicans of shouting the n-word. Karamo, who is Black, vehemently refuted the claim.
Across the country, the media is beginning to set a narrative that Republicans are hostile when they’re simply asking for a transparent process. That’s hard to do when poll workers cover glass windows and kick out Republicans. Heidi Przybyla from MSNBC described a “mob-like scene,” from poll watchers, even though the people behind her were calm. Contrast that to media coverage of riots with fires in the backdrop, described as mostly peaceful protests.
The Detroit Free Press pushed back against claims of Republican activists, reporting poll workers felt intimidated when they were filmed. The City Clerk said they didn’t want their people distracted.
The Detroit Free Press also disputed the claim that Republicans weren’t represented. “400 challengers were freely roaming the room as poll workers counted the 25,000 absentee ballots from Detroiters. That included: 134 Republican challengers; 134 Democratic challengers and 134 nonpartisan challengers, including groups like the ACLU and the League of Women Voters.”
The ACLU and League of Women Voters may announce themselves as nonpartisan groups, but residents of the state have enough experience to know they’re Democrat operatives. Michiganders reported that ACLU sent texts on behalf of Democrats like Karen McDonald and Gary Peters.
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said in a press conference today that Democrats were misleading the press. Republicans who left after finishing their shifts or were kicked out were not replaced. “If there’s nothing to see there, then let us watch. Let us have that assurance that this is being done fairly.” McDaniel noted there were over a hundred accusations of misconduct she was aware of and more coming in. She asked the press to give them time to vet them, and also invited them to do the same.
Election fraud happens. It’s a verified fact. Does it happen in mass enough numbers to change the outcome of a presidential election that’s handled so diversely? Not normally, but these are extraordinary circumstances for a chaotic year.
Mail-in ballots are different than absentee ballots, which are requested by voters. Through the summer, voters reported they received applications from voters who had moved or died. Someone even received a ballot for their dead cat. Secretaries of State used the Covid crisis to change the way we do elections. Some states handled counting ballots remarkably well, but they were accustomed to a heavier mail election. Former Michigan SOS Ruth Johnson questioned the motives of her successor, Jocelyn Benson. "Local clerks are the ones who have always handled these requests, not the secretary of state. Like Gov. (Gretchen Whitmer), SOS (Jocelyn Benson) seems to be taking unilateral actions with no input and questionable motives — and that is very troubling.” Johnson also noted the unnecessary cost of sending unsolicited ballots to voters.
Benson warned leading up to the election that Michigan could possibly have a week-long wait. That didn’t prove to be the case, but voters are asking questions after Trump’s sizeable lead disappeared overnight.
Wayne County, which reliably trends blue, is the bane of statewide Republican races. In 2018, John James was virtually in a dead heat with Senator Debbie Stabenow until Wayne County dropped. James lost by 6.5 points. Tami Carlone, who ran for school board, believed she had won until Wayne County came in as well. This year, Republicans felt comfortable with James leading with 300,000 votes and thought that would be enough to withstand Detroit’s blue wave. That proved not to be the case.
James is not conceding his race, and experts on the ground are advising him to fight. Finding over 80,000 votes to change the outcome of his election is a daunting and virtually impossible task, unless major fraud is discovered. Based on experience, Republicans are holding out hope and are determined to fight.
During the 2016 recount, Wayne County was utterly embarrassed by their irregularities. The Detroit News reported 37% of the Detroit precincts had more votes than registered voters. “Overall, state records show 10.6 percent of the precincts in the 22 counties that began the retabulation process couldn’t be recounted because of state law that bars recounts for unbalanced precincts or ones with broken seals.”
The City Clerk at the time was Janice Winfrey, and she still holds that position. When Benson won her position as Secretary of State, she used her power to create an advisory committee on election reform. A curious name on the list: Janice Winfrey.
The State announced it would partner with Detroit to oversee the general election after complications during the August primary. The Free Press reported: “From polling location changes at the last minute to widespread problems with the absentee vote count, issues in Detroit threatened voter confidence in the clerk's ability to successfully run an election in Michigan's largest city with the presidency possibly at stake.”
The count has not gone smoothly.
The Benson-Winfrey partnership also included Chris Thomas, who was Michigan's elections director for more than 30 years. Interestingly enough, RNC Chair McDaniel alleged in her press conference that an election worker whistleblower was instructed by Thomas to manually key in ballots with no receive dates for either Nov 2nd or 3rd.
It is expected Biden will be called the victor today by the media, but President Donald Trump is filing lawsuits and is alleging fraud. Some states are headed to recounts regardless. Whether Michigan will be apart of the recount is something the GOP is still considering.
Linda Lee Tarver, who has been a longtime Republican activist and sits on the advisory board for Black Voices for Trump, also retired from the Michigan Secretary of State. She believes claims of fraud should be taken seriously and thoroughly investigated. “Detroit has been notorious for decades for not putting forth a fair election. It should have been taken care of, and it’s been a haven for Democrats to swing their elections in the twelfth hour. We need a secretary of state, governor, AG, and legislature that maintains election integrity. There have been documented complaints going back for twenty years.”
“For the 20 years I’ve been a poll challenger and worked with the Secretary of State, Detroit has always had issues. The lawsuits are necessary, the court cases are necessary, and the pulling back of the veil is necessary. Some people need to go to jail.”
