Judge rules Michigan's Democratic secretary of state broke law with absentee ballot rule



A Michigan judge ruled last week that Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson violated state law by unilaterally altering absentee voting rules ahead of the 2020 presidential election.

At issue is a now-invalidated directive Benson issued to Michigan clerks in October relating to the signature review of absentee ballots. In the guidance, the secretary of state reportedly directed clerks to conduct the signature review "begin[ning] with the presumption that" the signature on the absentee is valid.

The directive went on to say that if there were "any redeeming qualities in the application or return envelope signature as compared to the signature on file," clerks should "treat the signature as valid." Such "redeeming qualities" allegedly included "similar distinctive flourishes" and "more matching features than nonmatching features."

But that "presumption is found nowhere in state law," State Court of Claims Judge Christopher Murray wrote in his ruling, issued March 9. "The mandatory presumption goes beyond the realm of mere advice and direction, and instead is a substantive directive that adds to the pertinent signature-matching standards."

Additionally, the judge found that Benson did not follow the state's proper rule-making process, but instead circumvented the state legislature in issuing the guidance, and thus violated the state's Administrative Procedures Act.

"The guidance issued by the Secretary of State on October 6, 2020, with respect to signature-matching standards was issued in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act," Murray wrote in conclusion.

According to the Detroit News, the Michigan Republican Party, one of the plaintiffs in the case, celebrated the judge's decision but lamented that it ultimately came too late to bear any influence on the presidential election.

"It was clear from the outset that the secretary of state had violated Election Law by unilaterally directing local clerks to ignore their statutory obligation to compare absentee ballot signatures," said Ted Goodman, the state GOP's communications director.

The ruling appears to vindicate complaints made by many Republican lawmakers and former President Donald Trump's campaign that Democratic secretaries of state violated their states' own election in the lead-up to the election.

But in his ruling, Murray stopped short of granting approval for additional audits to look at the effect the directive had on the November election.

"There is no support in the statute for plaintiffs to demand that an audit cover the subject of their choosing or to dictate the manner in which an audit is conducted," the judge wrote.

Michigan says elections department does not use compromised SolarWinds Orion software



As multiple U.S. federal agencies report breaches by hackers who used a compromised software manufactured by IT company SolarWinds to infiltrate government computer networks, the state of Michigan says that so far there is "no indication" that the state network was affected.

Michigan, a key battleground state in the 2020 presidential election, has been the focus of multiple allegations of voter fraud and election irregularities made by lawyers for President Donald Trump's campaign and others. When reports emerged earlier this week that a "highly-sophisticated, targeted and manual supply chain attack by a nation state" compromised SolarWinds' Orion suite of network management software, rampant speculation immediately began as to whether the cyberattack somehow influenced the 2020 U.S. presidential election in Michigan and elsewhere.

SolarWinds services multiple government clients in addition to private sector customers with its software. Rumors initially swirled that Dominion Voting Systems, the voting machine manufacturer at the center of allegations of election tampering made by President Donald Trump and his allies, used SolarWinds products and questions were raised about whether voting machines were hacked before the election.

Reporting by the Wall Street Journal's Alexa Corse and others clarified that while Dominion does in fact use SolarWinds Serv-U product, the company does not use the compromised Orion product line. Following these reports, independent journalist Kyle Becker obtained a copy of a document from the state of Michigan's Department of Technology, Management, and Budget (DTMB) that said the state of Michigan used SolarWinds Orion products.

MICHIGAN.🚨Today, Dominion's CEO denied that the company had ever had any business with Orion SolarWinds, the tech… https://t.co/ssZ42koSao
— Kyle Becker (@Kyle Becker)1608083943.0

Caleb Buhs, a spokesman for the DTMB confirmed to TheBlaze that Michigan uses SolarWinds Orion IT tools and that the state is investigating whether its networks were compromised in the cyberattack, as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA) recommended.

"Upon notification of the SolarWinds – Orion compromise, the state of Michigan started a forensic investigation of the state network in accordance with the recommended steps outlined by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)," Buhs told TheBlaze.

"To date, there is no indication that the SolarWinds – Orion compromise was activated within the state network," he said.

"To protect the state environment, DTMB continues to monitor the environment and will follow any additional steps that may be recommended by CISA as more information is released," Buhs added.

The spokesman also said that the Michigan Department of State, Bureau of Elections systems do not use the SolarWinds Orion software.

Multiple federal agencies, including the U.S. Treasury and Commerce Departments and the Department of Energy and National Nuclear Security Administration have reported breaches in what officials say was a widespread cyberattack suspected to be conducted by foreign actors.

Cybersecurity firm FireEye in a blog post stated that hackers gained access to numerous public and private organizations through trojanized updates to SolarWinds' Orion software. According to cybersecurity reporter Brian Krebs, the cyberattack could have affected as many as 18,000 SolarWinds customers.

The full extent of the cybersecurity compromise could remain unknown for some time as federal and state authorities conduct their investigations.

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Michigan election official calls cops on resident who displayed toilet with sign: 'Place mail-in ballots here'



While many are unsure of the effect of mail-in voting will have on the presidential election and see it as a crapshoot, one Michigan resident views mail-in voting as a crap chute. A homeowner displayed a toilet-themed display regarding the upcoming election on his front yard that has angered an election official.

A resident in the town of Mason displayed a toilet on their front yard that was accompanied by a sign that reads: "Place mail in ballots here."

A toilet and a sign: Statement or not, it's illegal, Ingham County clerk contends https://t.co/T4n8fiYWYB
— Lansing State Journal (@Lansing State Journal)1600483393.0

Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum thought the commode-themed election display stunk and called the police.

"Earlier this week, I filed a complaint with the Mason Police Department and the Ingham County Sheriff's Office regarding a report of a potential election violation located just blocks from the Mason Historical Courthouse," Byrum, who is a Democrat, said in a statement released on Friday.

"Elections in this country are to be taken seriously and there are many people who are voting by mail for the first time this Election," Byrum wrote. "We need to put out accurate, complete information about voting by mail, which is the safest way to vote during the pandemic."

"It's solicitation of absentee ballots into a container," Byrum told the Lansing State Journal. "Our election integrity is not a game. I expect everyone to act appropriately, and this is unacceptable."

"This kind of behavior needs to be quashed immediately," she said, flush with indignation. "They are making a mockery of our elections. I'm not going to stand idly by and watch it happen."

Byrum warned, "It is a felony to take illegal possession of an absentee ballot (voted or unvoted)." She pointed out that "felonies of this kind are punishable by a fine of $1,000.00 or 5 years in prison."

The front lawn also has a sign that reads: "Recall Whitmer," which calls for removing Michigan's Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer from office. There was also an election sign for John James, a Republican running for U.S. Senate.

Local police told the Associated Press that the complaint about the latrine display is being investigated.

Many social media commenters on the story played devil's advocate to Byrum's argument. They questioned if anything beneficial can be derived by people who cast their ballots into a toilet on the front yard of some random person's house.