Prelude To Detroit: Have No Fear! Jocelyn Benson Will Be Working With Janice Winfrey To Thwart Another Great Detroit Election Facepalm - 2016 Revisited

Yup....

Jocelyn Benson is going to be working with Janice Winfrey to thwart another Great Detroit Election Facepalm.

Detroit, state to jointly oversee November election in city after outcry over Aug. primary

Yippers...

Benson: 500,000 could be removed from Michigan's voting rolls, but not before Nov. 3

Roughly 500,000 absentee ballot applications were returned between May and August for reasons that included the individuals had since died or moved, but any outdated names can't be removed from voter rolls until after the Nov. 3 election, according to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's office. 

In a Thursday letter to Sen. Ruth Johnson, R-Holly, Benson said the Michigan Bureau of Elections will sort through the returned applications and distribute them to local clerks for voter list maintenance. 

Benson has been criticized for the May mailing to 7.7 million qualified voters in Michigan because some applications went to people who had long since moved or died. But the Detroit Democrat has maintained in the months after the mailing that the returned applications would help to guide efforts to clean up the state's voter rolls of transient or deceased individuals still on the state lists. 

"We expect the majority of maintenance will take place after the Nov. 3 election, when federal law no longer limits such action," she said, referring to federal election law preventing list maintenance 90 days before an election.

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson plans to mail postcards over the next week to 4.4 million registered active voters who have not yet requested an absentee ballot to remind them they have the opportunity to do so.

The applications were returned for "any reason postal mail is returned to sender," including the individual is dead or moved, said Tracy Wimmer, a spokeswoman for Benson's office.

Former Secretary of State Johnson on Wednesday estimated there likely were another 300,000 absentee ballot applications sent to people who are dead or moved that were not returned to the Bureau of Elections. 

Johnson has argued Benson should not have sent applications to people on the "inactive" or "countdown" list — a list of people believed to have moved but required by federal law to stay on the Qualified Voter File for at least two federal election cycles to verify their departure from the state. At the least, the Republican lawmaker said, those individuals should have been sent postcards instead of the actual ballot application.

"It’s always been a weakness in the system, but I’m afraid that the weakness has gone from something minor to people feeling encouraged to vote from other states," Johnson said.

On Aug. 17, Johnson requested Benson conduct an audit of the primary election to determine how many people listed as having moved in the "countdown" file had successfully voted from another state.

Benson's legislative policy director Adam Reames responded via email shortly after 7 p.m. Friday and argued people on the countdown list remain eligible to vote. He said signatures on the absentee ballot envelopes already had been verified by local clerks. 

"We are not clear what type of audit the Senator is suggesting," Reames wrote. 

Johnson argued Wednesday that the integrity of the November election would be best served by an audit of the August primary. 

"She’s opening a Pandora’s box for whatever side loses to go to court," the former secretary of state said of the November election.

"Ultimately, the people of Michigan are going to be disenfranchised. We’re going to end up in court and there’s just no reason for it."

Benson's office on Wednesday maintained it was her mailing and other education efforts that ensured record turnout in August and what is expected to be another high turnout in November.

"If state Sen. Johnson was truly concerned about disenfranchising voters, instead of squabbling over the court-approved application mailing to voters, she would be actively working to prevent the disenfranchisement of the thousands of Michigan citizens who will suffer that fate in November because, unlike in other states, our Legislature does not allow ballots postmarked by Election Day but arriving after to be counted," said Jake Rollow, a spokesman for Benson.

The first-term secretary of state plans to mail postcards over the next week to 4.4 million registered active voters who have not yet requested an absentee ballot to remind them they have the opportunity to do so. Benson will also mail letters to 700,000 people who have a state driver's license or state ID but haven't registered to vote in Michigan and encourage them to register, the secretary said Wednesday.

Roughly 130,000 of those people will be automatically registered to vote unless they opt out within 30 days of receiving a postcard, Benson said in a statement. The individuals visited the Secretary of State's office for a driver's license or state ID transaction between December 2018 and September 2019, between the passage of automatic voter registration under Proposal 3 and its actual implementation. 

In her letter to Johnson and the Senate Elections Committee, Benson urged lawmakers to allow clerks to begin processing ballots early ahead of Nov. 3. She noted the decrease in election workers and increase in absentee ballots could mean worker fatigue and real delays in delivering election results. 

Benson also asked the committee to consider legislation that would require clerks to call the voter if there were problems with an absentee ballot signature and accept ballots received after Election Day. 

In the Aug. 4 primary, 2,225 absentee ballots were rejected because of missing or mismatched signatures and 6,405 ballots were rejected because they arrived after Election Day. The Aug. 4 primary included a record 2.5 million votes, 1.6 million of which were cast via absentee ballot.

Additionally, about 1,111 were rejected because the voter moved between when they filled out the ballot and Election Day; and 846 were not accepted because the voter died between filling out the ballot and Election Day, according to data from Benson's office. 

"My office looks forward to supporting the committee with any data needed to advance the legislation outlined above," Benson wrote.

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

The Tale Of Jocelyn Benson: DHS Co-conspiracy Testimony On Voting Rights

The last time I checked, the 2018 Special Election has yet to be certified.

Then, there is that situation with the 2016 General Election certification.

So......

Riddle me this:

If 72% of the election cycle vote count cannot be replicated in a recount, something Jill Stein experienced in Michigan, then, what was the vote tally?

See, the tally and the vote are two, separate and exclusive datasets.

Then, we are dealing with Janice Winfrey.

So, how can one certify the 2020 Primary Election, when no one knows how many people voted?

But, then again, Jocelyn Benson likes to make up stuff all the time.

For some strange reason, I could not find the video.

Perhaps, it was sealed.

About to testify at a virtual hearing before the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security titled “Protecting America's Democracy: Ensuring Every Vote Counts." Tune in to the livestream now at https://t.co/CZjoFME4Rz pic.twitter.com/AlPGVYN9jJ

— Jocelyn Benson (@JocelynBenson) August 28, 2020

First, this happened...

Michigan board requires Benson to oversee Detroit's fall election

Lansing — The Michigan Board of State Canvassers is requiring Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to exercise her oversight powers this November in Detroit after widespread problems counting ballots in the city's primary and ahead of a pivotal presidential election.

But Benson, a Democrat from Detroit, said in a Monday interview that her efforts wouldn't focus on just the state's largest city. The Secretary of State's office is going to do a "deep dive" in the coming days to identify additional ways to support multiple cities across Michigan as they prepare for a surge of absentee voting this fall, she said.

"I am confident that we’re going to have record turnout this fall and the results of our elections are going to be accurate,” Benson said.

Maurice Brown, 54, of Detroit, votes in precinct \232 at Greater Emmanuel Institutional church this morning during primary voting in Detroit, Tuesday, August 4, 2020.

About 72% of the absentee voting precincts in Detroit's primary election had ballot totals that didn't match the number of ballots reported in poll books. This situation would likely mean  — under state law — those precincts couldn't be recounted in a close race, which is driving concerns among officials for the general election when the eyes of the nation could be on Michigan.

President Donald Trump won the state by 10,704 votes in 2016, his smallest margin of victory nationwide. Former First Lady Michelle Obama said at last week's Democratic convention that it averaged to two votes per precinct in Michigan.

"I don’t really care what the issue is," said Julie Matuzak, a Democratic member of the Board of State Canvassers. "I care that this not happen in November.”

On Monday morning, the board of two Democrats and two Republicans unanimously certified statewide election results for the Aug. 4 primary but included language in the certification that seeks to ensure that Benson gets further involved in supervising what happens with the general election in the state's largest city.

The board approved a requirement that Benson exercise "supervisory control" over the November election in Detroit. State law already provides the secretary of state supervisory control over local election officials, and it's unclear what specific changes in the administration of the election will occur.

"I don't think we're in the position to add the detail right now," said Norm Shinkle, a Republican member of the Board of State Canvassers.

Matuzak, who previously called the situation in the primary "appalling," said she wanted regular reports on what's happening in Detroit ahead of the general election. And Shinkle said he wanted to see a list of requirements from the Secretary of State's Office for the state, Detroit Clerk Janice Winfrey and election workers in the city to meet "if Detroit's going to run their own election."

"Otherwise, the secretary of state walks in and runs it," Shinkle said.

Winfrey has connected problems in the primary to election workers who were on the job for more than 20 hours and to a record surge of absentee ballots that they couldn't begin counting until Election Day.

In the Monday interview, Benson reiterated her calls for the Republican-controlled state Legislature to allow election workers to begin processing absentee ballots — getting them ready to be counted — before Election Day to help deal with an onslaught of mail-in voting amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

While it's not the entire issue in Detroit, it's a "significant piece of the challenge that occurred," she said.

"This is in many ways a reflection of the potential for human error that overworked and stressed election workers can succumb to when you have the time crunch we've been warning about for nearly a year and a half," Benson said.

Some Republican lawmakers have opposed the proposed change because of concerns that it could lead to ballots being counted before voting is over, potentially giving one side an advantage.

Jonathan Brater, the state's elections director, said it isn't logistically possible for the state to run the election in Detroit but added that there are things that need to be done "much better" in the city.

For the primary, poll books weren't updated as absentee ballots came in, some absentee ballots were allocated to the wrong precincts and ballots were placed in incorrect containers, Brater said.

"We are going to be taking a more active role, both in the recruitment and the training of election inspectors," he added.

About 72% of the 503 absentee voting precincts in Detroit's primary elections had absentee ballot totals that didn't match the number of ballots reported in poll books.

Overall — for absentee voting and Election Day precincts — 46% of Detroit's precincts had ballot totals that were out of balance for the Aug. 4 primary without provided explanations from election workers, meaning they likely couldn't be recounted under state law. The problems spurred frustration and questions from election officials at both the county and state level.

Asked if it would be a failure if Detroit repeated the 46% mismatch rate in November, Benson said her goal is to ensure there is "complete security of the process."

"I am focused on having successful elections in November," she added. "And to me, success would be defined by an accurate count of all of the ballots that are cast."

The Wayne County Board of Canvassers approved a resolution last week, asking the Secretary of State's Office to investigate the "training and processes" used in Detroit's primary election. The resolution asked the office to provide a monitor to "supervise the training and administration" of absentee voter counting boards in Detroit for the general election.

The Wayne County Board of Canvassers approved this resolution asking the Michigan Secretary of State's office to investigate "the training and processes" used by Detroit for the 2020 primary election.
During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a record 1.6 million people in Michigan voted by mail for the Aug. 4 primary, which itself set a new record for overall turnout of 2.5 million voters.

Winfrey noted the vast majority of the absentee voting precincts in the city with totals that didn't balance were less than three ballots off, plus or minus.

Detroit had problems with precinct count mismatches in the November 2016 election. Election officials couldn’t reconcile vote totals for 59% of precincts in the city during a countywide canvass of vote results with most of the issues involving too many votes.

Monday morning's meeting of the Board of State Canvassers was a continuation of a meeting that happened on Friday, when technological problems interrupted and forced officials to schedule a new meeting.

During the Friday meeting, all four members of the board voiced frustration with the results of Detroit's primary. Republican state board member Aaron Van Langevelde said the situation was "very troubling" and "unacceptable."

"A repeat performance is going to seriously undermine the public's confidence in the general election," he said.

Then, this happened....

#maytheheavensfall

Secretary of State Benson testifies to protect democracy ahead of election

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson testified before the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security on Aug. 28.

Her testimony focused on how to protect America’s democracy and ensure that every vote counts this November, according to Benson.

During the testimony, Benson discussed the statewide primary on Aug. 4 that shattered the previous record for total absentee ballots cast.

“Between a global pandemic and what seems near constant and escalating rhetoric and misinformation, 2020 has brought historic pressures on our elections systems,” said Secretary Benson. “In Michigan our statewide primary has served as a blueprint for running safe, secure, accessible elections during the COVID-19 pandemic, while also highlighting critical needs that, if addressed, can put every state on a path towards successful November elections.”

Benson also spoke for the need for partnership and additional support from state and federal officials to replicate what she says was a successful August election in November.

She also called on the federal government to fully fund the postal service and provide another round of funding to states to shore up election preparations.

“Democracy is a team sport, and if we work together we can succeed in holding elections this fall that are secure, on schedule, and an accurate reflection of the will of the people.” said Secretary Benson. “It’s possible, it’s doable, and our voters should demand no less from their government.”

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Cocktails & Popcorn: "The Girls" Are Powering Up: Janice Winfrey Takes The National Stage To Champion Voting Rights

"We won those elections fair and square because we said
so."

"The Puffed Up Power Girls" Featuring:

• Dana Nessel;
• Kym Worthy;
• Fadwa Hammoun; 
• Jocelyn Benson, and now,
• Janice Winfrey

Unifying in the puffed up power of being a woman, in alliance with #perkinscoiesucks, we sit awestruck, awaiting for the ultra leader of the power puffed up girls, but, hey, what do I know.

I know there is about to be some serious "Colored" Revolutionary tactics about to jump off in Detroit.

I can see you and if you know me, you know I know you know...

This is definitely Port worthy with bread, cheese and a fun little fruit.

Jacques: Detroit clerk to give election advice? Good luck

Janice Winfrey

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is moving ahead with her promise to help Michigan election officials get ready for an influx of voting changes, following the passage of Proposal 3 in November.

That proposal, approved by voters, aims to make it easier for residents to cast ballots, from no-reason absentee voting to voter registration on Election Day.

Last week Benson formed the 25-member Election Modernization Advisory Committee to counsel her administration and the Department of State’s Bureau of Elections on the implementation of these reforms.

“The results of last November’s election are clear: Michigan voters want to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat,” Benson said in a statement on her advisory committee, which is  tasked with modernizing state elections, applying best practices and making Michigan a national model for "efficient and secure elections."

The committee is composed of clerks and other officials from around the state, as well as national elections experts.

One of the names seems out of place, however: Detroit Clerk Janice Winfrey.

Joselyn Benson

Winfrey made Detroit a national embarrassment after vote counting mishaps following the 2016 presidential election. Her incompetence was on full display then -- and in subsequent elections.

Winfrey narrowly beat her challenger for city clerk in 2017. Garlin Gilchrist -- now serving as lieutenant governor -- made the case that Winfrey’s handling of the 2016 election was a “complete catastrophe.”

Gilchrist came so close to unseating Winfrey that he demanded a recount, partly because of reports of “chaos and confusion” among Detroit absentee balloting. That recount ironically proved impossible to carry out fully because poll worker errors prevented about 20 percent of reviewed precincts from being tallied.

More: Our editorial: State must oversee Winfrey’s operation

That’s why it’s hard to understand what Benson hopes to glean from Winfrey -- unless she’s looking for a primer of what not to do.

Ahead of the November election, Benson called Detroit’s polling challenges “unacceptable.” And she said she’d work on standardizing poll worker training in Detroit and statewide to help prevent such blatant errors.

In the meantime, Benson has given Winfrey a statewide platform. Benson defends her choice, saying she wanted clerks “whose experience and challenges at the ground level are relevant and informative. That’s why it was particularly important to include a representative from the city of Detroit, Michigan’s largest city, who could provide input and experience on how these changes will play out at the local level.”

Yet Winfrey’s ineptitude places her in a special category.

As Sarah Anderson, chief of staff for the Michigan Republican Party, asks, “If this clerk has so thoroughly and routinely botched her basic job duties in Detroit, what damage will she be empowered to do to the rest of the state's elections?”

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Michigan Secretary Of State Jocelyn Benson Is In Over Her Head - We Are Going To SCOTUS

Something is telling me that SCOTUS will intervene, but, hey, what do I know?

I know the three-judge panel knows what I know.

Michigan Secretary Of State Jocelyn Benson Takes It Upon Herself To Negotiate Gerrymandering Public Private Partnership Lawsuit - Completely Forgets About SIGTARP

I also know Trump's State of the Union address is Monday, the day before the high-stakes trail on gerrymandering starts.

Court rejects settlement in Michigan gerrymandering suit

Lansing — A lawsuit alleging partisan gerrymandering by Michigan's Republican-led Legislature is heading toward trial next week after a three-judge panel rejected a settlement proposed by Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and plaintiffs.

Benson does not have the authority to enter into the proposed consent decree without the blessing of the Michigan Legislature, the federal judges said Friday in a ruling rejecting the deal, which would have required reconfiguration of at least 11 state House seats for 2020 elections.

A trial in the high-stakes case is set to start Tuesday, but the U.S. Supreme Court could still intervene.

GOP attorneys are attempting to delay the case, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Friday asked parties wishing to weigh in to do so by Monday at 11 a.m., a sign the high court is considering the request.

The suit was filed on behalf of the League of Women Voters and a series of Democrats who allege that congressional and legislative district boundaries approved by the Legislature in 2011 were designed to benefit Republican candidates.

In announcing plans to settle, Benson said the case included "significant evidence of partisan gerrymandering" and predicted the state would lose in court and incur significant legal costs. Here settlement focused on what she said were the most "egregious" examples of partisan gerrymandering -- and likely several neighboring districts as well.

Instead, the court could decide whether there is evidence to prove claims Republicans intentionally "packed" and "cracked" voters into certain districts.

Benson and plaintiffs had argued their proposed settlement was similar to a case out of Florida that the U.S. Supreme Court approved.

But in that case, the Florida Senate and House "explicitly consented to the relief contained in the consent decree," Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Eric Clay wrote on  behalf of the panel, which includes District Court judges Denise Page Hood and Gordon Quist.

Attorneys for GOP state House Speaker Lee Chatfield, Rep. Aaron Miller and several congressional Republicans had filed motions opposing the settlement. The court on Friday also granted a motion for the Republican-led state Senate to intervene in the case.

Clay rejected arguments from Benson and plaintiffs that they could enter into a settlement because of a Michigan Supreme Court ruling giving the Attorney General's office broad authority to sue and settle state litigation with "binding effect on Michigan's political subdivisions."

The proposed settlement "would invalidate maps approved and enacted by the Michigan Legislature," Clay wrote. "And the Michigan Constitution gives the Michigan Legislature, not any political subdivision, authority to 'enact laws to regulate the time, place and manner of all... elections.'"

 An attorney for the plaintiffs was not available, but Benson said she respects the court's decision.

"As the state’s chief election officer, I will continue efforts to resolve this lawsuit in the best interests of all voters and in compliance with constitutional requirements," Benson said in a statement.

Michigan Republicans have denied overt political bias in the district maps, but emails between map makers revealed as part of the federal case have included several partisan references and commentary on the prospects of maintaining GOP power.

Former Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, a Republican, had defended the 2011 maps, but Benson inherited the case after taking office Jan. 1 and quickly reversed course. While the settlement would have been limited in scope, the lawsuit challenges 34 congressional, state House and Senate districts.

Republican attorneys had asked to delay the trial pending the outcome of alleged gerrymandering cases from Maryland and North Carolina the Supreme Court is set to take up, with oral arguments in late March.

The three-judge panel also denied those requests, saying all parties to the case "failed to articulate sufficiently compelling justifications" for delaying the trial, but the Supreme Court is weighing a similar request.

Michigan voters in November approved creation of an independent redistricting commission that will draw new political boundaries for 2022 elections and beyond. State law had allowed the Legislature to control that process every ten years.

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Michigan Secretary Of State Jocelyn Benson Rewrites Voting Rights Law All By Herself, Again

This is not going to end very well for Jocelyn Benson because she no longer has Fat Ass to guide her through successfully executing the absentee ballot victory process he had mastered.

Trump blasts mass absentee ballot efforts in Michigan, Nevada

"This was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue Secretary of State," Trump wrote of the Michigan effort.

Breaking: Michigan sends absentee ballots to 7.7 million people ahead of Primaries and the General Election. This was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue Secretary of State. I will ask to hold up funding to Michigan if they want to go down this Voter Fraud path!..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 20, 2020

Actually, this is not going to end well for anyone who was mean to my Sweetie.

#maytheheavensfall

Secretary of State mailing every Michigan voter absentee ballot application for 2020 elections

LANSING, MI. - Every registered voter in Michigan will receive an application to vote by mail for August and November elections.

Coming off an encouraging May election cycle that saw "record-breaking" voter turnout despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson wants to follow-up those results with an even greater effort.

Absentee ballot applications to be mailed out across Michigan for 2020 election
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has a goal to mail to every resident an application to vote absentee due to social distance concerns for the 2020 election.

In a press release issued Tuesday, the department head promised applications for every one of the 7.7 million registered voters in Michigan. About 1.3 million residents can already vote absentee.

“We appreciate that some clerks are proactively protecting public health by mailing applications to all their registered voters, and we are fulfilling our responsibility to provide all voters equal access,” said Benson. “We know from the elections that took place this month that during the pandemic Michiganders want to safely vote.”

The elections that voters can participate in 2020 include the primary elections held in August and the presidential election in November.

Over the last decade, average voter turnout in local elections in May has been an abysmal 12%. Last May 5, around 50 elections were held across 33 counties and witness almost 25% turnout. The remarkably high numbers serve as indicators for what's to come for Michigan's election systems later in the year.

Among that high turnout came an even more remarkable figure: 99% of ballots cast were by mail. Part of that reason can be attributed to the emergency order signed in March about two weeks after the virus was first confirmed. In the order, the governor expanded absentee voting access by allowing the secretary of state to issue absentee ballot applications to every registered voter and to provide absentee ballots directly to new registrants.

Michigan's election systems have waded into new territory since the state's electorate approved a proposition via a ballot measure that would allow any voter to cast their ballot remotely, regardless of the reason. Benson said this factor was a driving force behind the surge in turnout during the Democratic Primary election held March 10.

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Michigan Secretary Of State Jocelyn Benson Takes It Upon Herself To Negotiate Gerrymandering Public Private Partnership Lawsuit - Completely Forgets About SIGTARP

In the spirit of fuchsia...

Michigan Secretary of Usurpation
Jocelyn Benson

GOP asks Supreme Court to block Dem settlement in gerrymandering suit

Lansing — Michigan Republicans are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hit pause on a federal lawsuit alleging GOP gerrymandering, a move that could disrupt a settlement agreement announced Friday by Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.

Work with me on this one.  You mean to tell me that the Michigan GOP filed in SCOTUS to stay a lawsuit alleging they participated in gerrymandering through the Emergency Manager Law for the fake Detroit Bankruptcy where the Detroit Land Bank Authority was a creditor to put people out of their families' generational homes, based upon fake property tax foreclosure, asset forfeiture fraud schemes they introduced, and promulgated through money they laundered through their campaigns into their legislative back pockets, for the purposes of redistricting based upon the people who survived the reign of terror from the "Legal Geniuses" (trademark pending)?

Well, that is awkward, considering that there is another case in federal court, at the judicial threshold of the same exact matter, which means that this Detroit case could be, possibly, enjoined?

Benson's deal with plaintiffs would require Michigan to redraw at least 11 state House districts. It would likely force a recalibration of an unknown number of surrounding districts as well.

Stay with me because this is the part where I have serious privatization issues going on.  I need someone to explain to me why the Michigan Secretary of State can negotiate in a matter pending before the court, and not the Attorney General, without advise and consent of the Senate, from the Executive Branch, by disregarding existing law, where only the Legislature can make law.  That is called a usurpation, the last time I read my Michigan Petition for Writ of Quo Warranto. 

But attorneys for Republican lawmakers are asking the nation’s highest court to intervene and delay any action in the suit until justices consider arguments in similar gerrymandering cases out of North Carolina and Maryland they are expected to take up in March.

Looks like that Detroit Land Bank Authority case is going to be on hold until March.

“The Supreme Court will be ruling soon on the exact issues presented in this case, and this afternoon we asked the United States Supreme Court to stay this entire proceeding,” attorney Charlie Spies told The Detroit News by email.

State House Speaker Lee Chatfield of Levering, Rep. Aaron Miller of Sturgis and several congressional Republicans directed their request to Justice Sonia Sotomayor, a Democratic nominee.

The Michigan lawsuit alleges maps approved by the Republican-led Legislature in 2011 intentionally diluted the power of Democratic voters by “packing” or “cracking” them into specific districts.

It did. It was called fake property tax and mortgage foreclosure schemes.  I was there when they came up with the idea.

The new districts would only apply for the 2020 elections. Voters last fall approved the creation of a citizen redistricting commission that will draw maps for 2022 and beyond.

That citizen redistricting commission is another one of those "Authorities", like the Detroit Land Bank Authority, a Public Private Partnership.

As part of the deal with Benson, which would require approval by a three-judge panel overseeing the case, plaintiffs agreed to drop challenges to congressional and state Senate districts, along with four other state House Districts.

I should file an amicus curiea monkey wrench just for fun. I always wanted to file in SCOTUS. I want to have fun making them waive the fees and giving me special powers in case law.  The Justices need to bond with me, anyway.

The 11 state House districts targeted in the agreement “represent some of the most egregious examples of the unconstitutional attempts by past legislators to draw legislative districts in an effort to rig the partisan outcomes of elections,” Benson told reporters at a Friday briefing.

Several neighboring districts would likely need to be redrawn as well, but “that’s going to be a question for the Legislature,” Benson said.

Districts in settlement proposal, in green here, are all south of Mt. Pleasant. So likely no changes needed to northern lower and UP pic.twitter.com/fASSrBs4FO

— Jonathan Oosting (@jonathanoosting) January 25, 2019

The Michigan gerrymandering case is currently scheduled to go to trial Feb. 5. In their application to the U.S. Supreme Court, GOP attorneys suggested federal judges are aware of settlement talks but made clear they do not plan to delay the trial for “any reason.”

Plaintiff attorneys submitted the proposed settlement Friday afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

“The next step is whether the court will accept it, and we’ll go from there,” Benson said.​​​​​​

February 5, 2019 is the magic day because it is not just the start of the gerrrymandering trial, it is also the State of the Union Address!

​Benson: Deal avoids 'upheaval' 

The Detroit Democrat said she pushed plaintiffs to drop congressional and state Senate district challenges to minimize “upheaval." But the deal still reflects her view that gerrymandering occurred in a way that violated the constitutional mandate of “one person, one vote.”

No, she is dropping the congressional and state Senate district challenges because she knows that stuff is criminal.  Who gave her the powers to negotiate settlements?

Benson has been the subject of considerable GOP scorn the past week after signaling her intent to settle the federal lawsuit brought by the League of Women Voters, a group of Democratic voters and attorney Mark Brewer, former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party.

Ah, she is with the "Legal Genius" (trademark pending) Mark Brewer.

Michigan Republican Party spokesman Tony Zammit blasted the deal, saying Benson “has shown she cannot be impartial in this case, and therefore she must be replaced as it’s defendant.” Former Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, a Republican, had defended the GOP maps.

Can you smell the fear? Both Republicans and Democrats in Michigan are terrified right about now. #FreeMariaButina

Benson denied partisan motivation for settling the case she inherited after taking office this month, suggesting she did not want to waste taxpayer resources fighting a case she believes the state would lose. The deal would give the Republican-led Legislature the first opportunity to redraw the state House lines, subject to judicial review.

She was not partisan, she is desperately trying to preserve her freedom.

“It does not matter to me who or what parties drew the districts," Benson said. "What matters to me is whether they were drawn to circumvent the will of the voters.”

Technically, if you snatch people's homes, they will no longer live there, which means there are no longer voters, so I guess you can say the will of the voters were not circumvented if no one resides in the properties anymore.

The proposed consent decree would require the state to redraw state House districts 24, 32, 51, 55, 60, 63, 76, 91, 92, 94 and 95. Six of those seats are currently held by Republicans and five are controlled by Democrats. Republicans currently represent 58 of 110 state House districts, a six-seat majority.

I bet they picked those State House Districts arbitrarily and capriciously.

“The Democrats know it will be nearly impossible to redraw these 11 districts without affecting countless others causing electoral chaos,” Zammit said. “Worse yet, outdated 10-year-old data will be utilized to draw the new lines which will not accurately reflect the demographics of our state.”

All those data are corrupt.  Please. All you have to do is compare the voter rolls with a drive by of the addresses. 

The deal does not dictate how the Republican-led Legislature should redraw the state House districts, but it encourages them to do so in “transparent proceedings open to the public.”

Encouragement can be creative when you use terms like "should" and "may" because there is not statutory oversight to challenge anything coming out of the privatized redistricting commission.

The 11 targeted districts include two Republican-held seats in Metro Detroit, both in Macomb County, currently represented by Rep. Steve Marino of Harrison Township and Pamela Hornberger of Chesterfield Township.

I wonder if these negotiations took place in Michigan.

None of the settlement districts are north of Mount Pleasant, meaning seats in the northern Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula where Republicans are dominant are unlikely to be affected.

That is because southeastern Michigan, specifically Detroit, has the "highest concentration of voter potential", (my new term for what happens after the Michigan passes laws for stealin' the children, the land, and the votes.)

The federal court would be responsible for establishing a deadline for the redrawn state House maps and determining how it would judge the partisan fairness of the proposed districts.

The federal court should not be responsible for participating in a complex fraud scheme dealing with multiple, ongoing federal investigations.

Brewer ties blasted

Republican lawmakers have denied overt political bias in the district boundaries they approved in 2011, but emails between map makers revealed in the federal case have included partisan references and commentary on the prospects of maintaining GOP power.

If you go through my archive, you can find the links to what they were talking about and who were the biggest cheerleaders.

Benson told reporters she expected Republican opposition to the settlement despite its limited nature, which means state senators just elected to four-year terms would not need to run for re-election in 2020.

By what right does the Secretary of State, through a private attorney, unless Brewer is a Special Counsel, which he is not and should know better.  Well, on second thought, Brewer does know better which is why he is covering his arse for his engagements with Perkins Coie Sucks operations through the DNC and MDP.

“I think no matter what decision I made in this case, someone was going to be upset, whether we went to trial or whether we settled or not,” she said.

Well, I say you, my dear, shall be called to bear witness by what right you have to even hold that office, 

Republicans have blasted Benson for connections to Brewer, the former state Democratic party chairman who donated $500 to her campaign and is a lead attorney for plaintiffs in the case.

The lady doth have a reputation for just about anything to get elected.

Earlier this week, the Michigan GOP accused Benson and Brewer of trying to orchestrate “the greatest partisan power grab in Michigan history,” and attorneys for Republican lawmakers asked court permission to demand their communications donating back to 2017.

Michigan GOP is asking for the Wikileaks files and the DNC servers?  Oh, this is going to be interesting because the MDP was running shop in Detroit through lots of political campaigns.  This sounds like a call for the FEC.

Benson noted she raised more than $1 million for her campaign and received donations from both Republicans and Democrats.

Everyone does the nasty together in Michigan politics, you just do not know it...yet.

“If anyone giving me $500 can influence a decision I made when you raise that much money from thousands of people, then we’re in trouble,” she said. “And so that’s certainly not the case here.”

The settlement does not require any state payments to cover the cost of plaintiff attorneys but makes clear that the parties could agree to award fees at a later date.

“How much money are the taxpayers of Michigan going to be paying Mark Brewer’s law firm in this case?” Zammit said.

Excellent question!  I have one better.  Who approved Brewer's law firm to take on this case?

This is nothing but another Public Private Partnership takeover of Michigan.

And that ends my incredible ability of throwing legal monkey wrenches in cases dealing with SIGTARP.

League of Women Voters v Mi... by on Scribd

Again, the moral of the story is, "Do not be mean to my Sweetie. Period". 

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Michigan Private Redistricting Teleconference Featuring Detroit Land Bank Authority Legal Genius Michael Brady - 2-27-2020

Oh, lookie!

Michael Brady is on the redistricting team.

Michael has alot of experience in gerrymandering through fake ass private organizations.

Jocelyn Benson has alot of experience when it comes to making up her own rules, with advice and consent of fake ass private organizations, too.

I would go, but I am not credentialed media, which is a good thing because I would just publish their own words coming from their mouths, including the audience comments, and use it against them.

I bet they are going to produce a fancy video with cute memes and hashtags about all their redistricting efforts, but will forget the history, because they are bleachbitting legacy, which is why I do what I do.

MEDIA ADVISORY Note: This event is for credentialed media only Feb. 26, 2020 Contact: Mike Doyle DoyleM@Michigan.gov

Press teleconference with updates on Michigan's Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission State officials will announce Michigan has already processed more than 3,000 applications, far more than minimum required by constitution WHEN: Thursday, Feb. 27, 2 p.m. [Opening remarks 2-2:15 p.m.; Media Q&A to follow until or before 2:45 p.m. as necessary] WHO:             Michigan Assistant Secretary of State Heaster Wheeler Sally Marsh, director of special projects for the Michigan Department of State and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson Michael J. Brady, chief legal director for the Michigan Department of State and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson Jake Rollow, director of communications & external affairs for the Michigan Department of State and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson LOCATION: Via conference call – Please RSVP to Mike Doyle of the Michigan Department of State at DoyleM@Michigan.gov or 517-335-3264 to receive the conference call number. WHAT: Press teleconference to discuss applicant demographics and selection methodology for Michigan’s Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. More than 3,000 applications – nearly half of the more than 6,000 received to date – for the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission have been processed. This total, as measured through Feb. 26, means Michigan has already received far more applications than the minimum required by the constitution. A profile of Michigan’s pool of applicants whose applications have already been processed will be available at RedistrictingMichigan.org. The data will be updated regularly as more applications are processed. In addition, the public comment period is open through March 27 for the weighted selection methodology proposed to identify the 200 semifinalists from whom the commission’s 13 members will ultimately be randomly selected – four affiliated with the Republican Party, four affiliated with the Democratic Party and five who do not affiliate with either major party. During the teleconference, state officials will discuss how the random selection process for the 200 semifinalist applicants will “mirror, as closely as possible, the geographic and demographic makeup of the state” as required by the Michigan Constitution. Officials will emphasize that Michigan voters can continue to apply through the June 1, 2020, deadline. Michigan voters amended the state constitution in 2018 to give the responsibility for drawing state and congressional electoral districts to a randomly selected, independent commission of citizens. The Michigan Department of State launched the application process for the commission in October 2019. It will conclude on June 1. The constitution designates the secretary of state as administrator of the application and selection process for the commission, as well as “secretary without a vote” providing administrative support to the commission once formed. More information on the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission is available at RedistrictingMichigan.org.

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©

Michigan Attorney General Nessel Busts Southfield Clerk In 2018 Absentee Ballot Election Fraud, Jocelyn Benson Silent On Detroit

Wait a minute....

If there has been found to election irregularities in the 2018 election in absentee ballots, well, that would mean there exists a plausible pattern of past practice that may be applied to the 2016 election....and the 2014 election....and the 2012 election...and the 2010 election... and the 2008 election....

But, hey, what do I know?

I know there is a strong probablitly Fat Ass probably got to her.

I know we have arrived in Detroit where there is a similar absentee ballot election fraud scheme when it comes to Janice Winfrey and the Detroit Land Bank Authority.

I know Jocelyn Benson and "The Girls" have a few of their own "election issues" in the 2016 election where Judge Jeanine has been trying to cover up, too.

FUN FACT! EACH CITY HAS AN ELECTION COMMISSION WHICH CERTIFIES THE VOTE

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (FOX 2) - Southfield city clerk Sherikia Hawkins is facing six felony charges. 

The charges, which stem from the Nov. 6, 2018, general election, are as follows:



Count One. Election Law - Falsifying Returns/Records, a five-year felony and/or $1,000
Count Two. Forgery of a Public Record, a 14-year felony
Count Three. Misconduct in Office, a five-year felony and/or $10,000
Count Four. Using a Computer to Commit a Crime - Election Law - Falsifying Returns/Records, a seven-year felony and/or $5,000
Count Five. Using a Computer to Commit a Crime - Forgery of a Public Record, a 10-year felony and/or $10,000
Count Six.  Using a Computer to Commit a Crime - Misconduct in Office, a seven-year felony and/or $5,000

Southfield city clerk Sherikia Hawkins is facing 14 years in prison for six felonies related to the 2018 general election.

Discrepancies in the Southfield voter count were brought to the Secretary of State’s attention by the Oakland County Clerk’s office, following its efforts to certify Southfield’s absentee ballots.

Michigan State Police conducted a thorough investigation and determined that election records had been altered.

“Today upon learning that the Southfield City Clerk was formally charged with multiple crimes under Michigan election law, I exercised my authority under Michigan law to exert supervisory control over local election officials and directed the clerk to refrain from administering any election while there are charges pending against her,” Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said. “Our elections are the foundation of our democracy, and under my and Attorney General Nessel’s administration there will be no tolerance for any actions that undermine that foundation - anywhere, anytime, by any person or official.”

Hawkins, 38, of Southfield, was elected Southfield city clerk in November 2017.  Prior to election she was the city clerk of Pontiac, a non-elected position, where she was responsible for that city’s elections.

Hawkins turned herself in and was charged and arraigned late Monday morning in the 46th District Court (Southfield) on six felony counts in front of visiting judge Michelle Friedman Appel, chief judge of the 45th District Court.

Hawkins was given a $15,000 personal bond and a probable cause conference was scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Monday, Sept. 30. A preliminary examination hearing is set for Tuesday, Oct. 15, before Judge Appel.

Voting is beautiful, be beautiful ~ vote.©