The claim: “Too many dead people voted” in Michigan
Michigan’s top elected Republican relied on an oft-repeated and inaccurate claim about dead voters to bolster his argument for changes in state election law.
In a Tuesday radio interview, Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey, R-Clarklake, acknowledged that President Joe Biden won Michigan by more than 154,000 votes, but said the state didn’t do enough to ensure election integrity.
“We do have some things that we need to address because it was a little too loose. Too many dead people voted and there was too much confusion at absentee counting boards,” Shirkey claimed in the interview on WKHM.
5:15 pm UTC Dec. 24, 2020
Michigan as a battleground state took on a new meaning during the 2020 Presidential Election. Each campaign made multiple stops in Michigan with a flurry of back-to-back stops in the days and hours before voters hit the polls. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, voters cast absentee ballots in record numbers; while others waited in line to cast their votes in person on Election Day. The TCF Center gained national attention as Trump supporters gathered outside calling for the vote counting to be stopped until fraud claims could be investigated. Despite multiple attempts to stop the certification process, the Michigan State Board of Canvassers voted to certify the results and granted President-elect Joe Biden the state s 16 electoral votes.
Dominion Whistleblower Accuses CEO of Lying During Michigan Hearing
CEO John Poulos answered questions about Dominion’s machines and software for several hours.
Melissa Carone was a contractor who worked for the company during the election. She told NTD, part of the Epoch Media Group, that Poulos misled legislators or outright lied.
Poulos told the Michigan Senate Oversight Committee on Dec. 15 there were three workers, two employees and a contractor, at the TCF Center. Carone alleged there were actually five there.
Poulos told legislators that the vote tabulator units sit atop a ballot box that is sealed during ballot counting. Carone said that may be the case elsewhere, but at the TCF Center the ballot boxes were not attached to the machines.
Michigan Secretary of State Refuses to Testify to State Legislature on Election
Michigan’s top election official has declined to appear before the state legislature to testify as lawmakers probe alleged election irregularities.
“I am aware of the hearings the Committee has conducted, and am concerned that contrary to your desire to ‘get to the bottom’ of election questions, they are instead amplifying already debunked conspiracy theories and previously disproven claims of people who lack basic knowledge of election administration, and in doing so, undermining the integrity of the election and wounding our democracy,” Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, wrote to state Rep. Matt Hall.
Some Dominion Machines Can Connect to Internet, CEO Acknowledges
Some voting machines produced by Dominion Voting Systems can connect to the internet, the company’s CEO said on Dec. 15.
“For the few jurisdictions, less than 1 percent of our customer base, an external cellular modem is required,” CEO John Poulos told legislators during a state Senate committee hearing in Michigan.
An external modem sits outside a device and allows internet access.
A Dominion contractor and a poll challenger told The Epoch Times last month that voting machines at the TCF Center in Detroit, used in the Nov. 3 election, were connected to the internet.