Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Members of a GOP activist group coaching Michigan poll workers and watchers before Tuesday’s primary election instructed them to call 911 and contact sheriffs to involve law enforcement in election-related complaints, according to a recording of a Sunday night meeting obtained by POLITICO.<\/p>\n
The plan, outlined by Joanne Bakale<\/a>, who is running a voter project for the Election Integrity Force<\/a> and who led the meeting, is the latest example of how many individuals who falsely maintain there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election are seeking to involve law enforcement around elections administration.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the issues that we had in the 2020 election is that no one actually filed any complaints with the police,\u201d said Bakale, advising participants to document issues around voting or voting machines by calling 911. In 2020, dozens of poll challengers were locked outside Detroit\u2019s TCF Center, where absentee ballots were being counted, after Covid-19 safety protocols were violated. Since then, many activists and GOP officials have insisted they witnessed fraud, despite a GOP-led investigation refuting the claims, and worked to form relationships with local police.<\/p>\n POLITICO obtained the recording from a participant. About 50 individuals were on the Zoom call, run by Bakale.<\/p>\n Sandy Kiesel<\/a>, executive director of the Election Integrity Force who is running for a state legislative seat, said calling law enforcement should only happen for issues that can\u2019t be resolved. \u201cIf you\u2019re running into a problem with something and not getting anywhere your recourse is to get a report filed,\u201d Kiesel told POLITICO via phone call, describing her group as nonpartisan and focused on \u201ctransparent elections.\u201d The goal, she said, is \u201cto have everybody see the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve always been very careful to tell people to be very polite and considerate. This isn\u2019t a war where we want people to get thrown out,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n A number of participants in the meeting advocated for involving law enforcement in disputes at the polls.<\/p>\n Sheriffs could wield significant power, according to an unidentified female participant. \u201cI just know that to call 911 is what we should do. Because the sheriff has ultimate authority, more authority, any other agency involved in the elections,\u201d she said. An unidentified male participant chimed in: \u201cIf there is an infraction, I will be able to point right to the law in front of the sheriff\u2019s deputy and cite it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The purpose of the meeting was to review \u201cOperation Paper Cut,\u201d an effort by poll workers to obtain copies of voting machine tabulator tapes. After briefly outlining that process, Bakale shared that she recently reached out to \u201cone of our friends in law enforcement\u201d for advice.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat is it you really expect the police to do?\u201d the same unidentified male asked.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s more a documentation of the occurrence,\u201d replied Barkale, noting the 911 system will record the call.<\/p>\n Yet another person in the meeting said the goal is to start an investigation. \u201cThe best thing to do is to call 911 and then when they start investigating, they can get the names of the attorneys and they can figure out what to do,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The recordings demonstrate how individuals who falsely believe the last election was stolen could create potential disruptions at polling locations in current or upcoming elections and the levers GOP activist groups are planning to use to lay the groundwork to challenge votes and voting processes in heavily Democratic-voting precincts.<\/p>\n Michigan is the state where Sheriff Dar Leaf of rural Barry County continues his own self-initiated investigation<\/a> into debunked allegations that the 2020 election was rigged against Trump, including that voting machines flipped votes from Trump to Democrat Joe Biden. Leaf has petitioned courts to try to seize election equipment and sent investigators to try and interrogate local clerks \u2014 all with little success.<\/p>\n