Republican activists plan petition to force ‘forensic audit’ of Michigan 2020 election

LANSING, MI -- Conservative activists on Tuesday announced a petition initiative aimed at changing Michigan law on post-election audits in order to spur more investigation into 2020 results.

The Republican-majority state Legislature has not acted on demands for a “forensic audit” from supporters of former President Donald Trump who believe the results were tainted by fraud. Several hundred demonstrators rallied outside the state Capitol in Lansing on Tuesday, rejecting audits performed by the Michigan Secretary of State and a GOP-led investigation that both affirmed President Joe Biden’s victory.

Biden won Michigan by 154,000 votes, according to the official results, but Trump and his supporters continue to dispute the outcome 11 months after polls closed, even after numerous court rulings and audits have discredited assertions of widespread voter fraud.

Tuesday’s rally gained the blessing of Trump, and organizers teased that the former president may call in to the event, but he did not.

The rally was sponsored by Election Integrity Force and Fund, a group that is recruiting volunteers to canvas neighborhoods and find voting “anomalies.” Tuesday’s event was promoted by several activist organizations like the Michigan Conservative Coalition, a group founded by Michigan Republican Party Co-Chair Meshawn Maddock and grassroots co-chair Marian Sheridan.

Related: Voter fraud charges against 3 Michigan women highlight scrutiny, election security, officials say

Speakers at the rally alternated between questioning whether fraud was possible and calling Biden an illegitimate president. Janice Daniels, a former Troy mayor who was recalled in 2012, said it’s not clear Biden’s victory was stolen, but speculated on what it would mean anyway.

“If that election was stolen, then right now we are under a usurper government in Washington,” Daniels said. “Every single day that goes by represents a threat not only to me and my family, but to you and our family.”

Later in the event, Daniels said “we don’t know” whether Gov. Gretchen Whitmer won in 2018.

Kristina Karamo, a Republican running for Michigan Secretary of State, said voters shouldn’t be satisfied with the 2020 audit that Benson’s office oversaw. Karamo, a poll challenger who alleged she witnessed absentee ballot fraud in Detroit, was also endorsed by Trump.

“We’re constantly being told this is the most secure election in U.S. history; then prove it,” Karamo said.

State Rep. Steve Carra, R-Three Rivers, called on his Republican colleagues to pass legislation he introduced that would create a new board to review the 2020 election. Carra, who is running for Michigan’s 6th Congressional District with Trump’s endorsement, also promoted a new petition drive with the same goal.

Michigan’s initiative process allows residents to propose new laws to the Legislature. The proposal goes to voters as a ballot measure if the Legislature does not enact it.

Jon Rocha, a Portage Republican who paused his bid to run for Michigan’s 6th Congressional District, said he plans to begin collecting signatures as soon as the petition language is finished. The petition would need 340,000 signatures to move forward.

“This is how a revolution starts, right here in front of the state Capitol,” Rocha said. “Let these guys know what we want because we are the people.”

State Rep. Daire Rendon, R-Lake City, said she had a gut feeling the day after the November 2020 election that something was amiss. She was among a group of 15 Michigan lawmakers who joined a Texas lawsuit challenging results in Michigan and several other battleground states.

Rendon wore a pin with a “Q” over an American flag to the rally, a symbol referencing the QAnon conspiracy theory that is commonly displayed at Trump rallies. Rendon told VICE News she believes a plan to cheat was executed by officials in the highest levels of government. Members of the audience in Lansing shouted slogans and carried signs alluding to a “deep state” conspiracy to steal the election from Trump.

“They’re telling us that nothing was wrong with the election that we all saw,” Rendon said during the rally. “Come on. We’re not that stupid. We know better.”

Randy Bishop, a conservative radio host, claimed the GOP schemed to make Trump to lose in 2020 so the party could take advantage of a historic advantage out-of-power parties have in midterm elections. Bishop argued Trump’s loss was set up so Republicans could win in 2022.

Republican gubernatorial candidate James Craig was accused of allowing fraud to occur in Detroit by Melissa Carone, who is running for state representative. Carone said the former Detroit police chief should have stopped fraudulent ballots from being delivered to the TCF Center, referencing another unproven theory.

Craig penned an op-ed Tuesday supporting an “extensive audit” of the 2020 results.

Rendon pointed to Antrim County and Maricopa County in Arizona as sources of election fraud evidence. An audit of the Arizona county’s results is a model for Republicans seeking investigations in other battleground states, though it reaffirmed Biden’s win.

Related: Judge dismisses final Michigan election fraud suit, says that doesn’t mean there weren’t problems

Trump promoted the Capitol rally in a statement, calling on his supporters not to “let us down.” Days earlier, the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary released a report detailing the former president’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

The Senate committee report describes meetings where Trump pressed Department of Justice officials to declare the election “corrupt” and launch investigations based on false claims about Michigan and other battleground states. The report shows a discredited study on Antrim County results served as a foundational text for voter fraud narratives that endure today.

Related: Lawer accused of pushing false election fraud claims wants to be Michigan’s next attorney general

Persistent controversy about Antrim County’s results also provided a political springboard for Matthew DePerno, a Trump-endorsed lawyer who is seeking the GOP nomination for Michigan Attorney General. Trump promoted a “forensic report” of Antrim County voting machines created on behalf of DePerno and his client as bombshell evidence of a rigged election.

The report claims Dominion Voting Systems machines, which are used widely across the U.S., were intentionally designed to create fraudulent election results. Trump tweeted the Antrim County report as soon as it was released to the public by court order.

The same day, Michigan’s electors were scheduled to cast their votes for Biden in accordance with state law. A group of Michigan Republicans tried to enter the state Capitol and cast their own votes for Trump, but they were blocked by law enforcement. Maddock and Rendon accompanied them.

Officials in the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Justice did not find the Antrim County fraud claims to be credible. Trump kept a focus on the discredited report, including it in a proposed brief to the U.S. Supreme Court challenging results in Michigan and five other swing states. Trump pressed Department of Justice officials to file the brief multiple times, according to the Senate committee, but they declined.

DePerno has become a star in the conservative movement since the Antrim County lawsuit. He gave a 20-minute stump speech on the steps of the Capitol on Tuesday. He accused lawmakers of hiding from voters.

“I have been told, in fact demanded, by our elected officials to stop talking about this issue,” DePerno said. “I have been told to stop talking about America first values. I stood up and I fought to try to vindicate President Trump when no one else would. And yet now after 11 months, it becomes fashionable for some politicians who never cared about this issue, to start talking about it.”

The crowd started chanting “lock her up” when DePerno mentioned Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

Nessel launched an investigation into people who promoted misinformation about the 2020 election for their own gain. A Republican-led legislative committee that found no systemic fraud in the election recommended Nessel consider probing individuals who used “misleading and false information about Antrim County to raise money or publicity for their own ends.”

Related: Attorney General investigating individuals profiting off election conspiracies at request of GOP lawmakers

DePerno claimed that amounts to violating his First Amendment rights.

“Dana Nessel doesn’t value your rights, but we need an army to fight,” DePerno said. “Never again will we tolerate overreach by executive directors. The Democrats in the establishment don’t understand the power of the grassroots movement in Michigan.”

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