LANSING, MI — Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson issued a stern warning to voters Wednesday that “democracy is on the ballot” this November as Donald Trump-endorsed candidates continue to mislead voters over the results of the 2020 general election.
Most of the virtual event focused on the candidates being backed by the former president who is set to host a rally in metro Detroit on Saturday to build momentum for his hand-picked candidates: Kristina Karamo, who is running for Benson’s seat as secretary of state and attorney general candidate Matt DePerno.
Both are using lies about the 2020 election, which Trump lost in Michigan by thousands of votes, as a rallying point for their campaign.
Related: Trump-endorsed Kristina Karamo outraising other Republican Secretary of State candidates
“The threats against our democracy are truly a five alarm fire,” Benson said. “And in that fire, Michigan is ground zero. It’s a fire that consists of a national coordinated effort where partisan politicians and others are lying to voters about the 2020 election results and about what’s at stake in order to carry out this national, multifaceted, multi-year, coordinated and sophisticated effort to potentially successfully overturn the results of a legitimate presidential election or other elections.”
After many hours of tense debate in front of a national stage the Board of State Canvassers certified Michigan’s general election results in November 2020 after intense pressure from the Michigan Republican Party to delay certifying the votes as Trump baselessly claimed fraud.
Republicans also made an effort to send their own set of electors before Michigan certified its Electoral College votes for Biden on Dec. 14, 2020.
Benson and Tiffany Muller, the president of End Citizens United / Let America Vote, a national political action committee, warned that if candidates like Karamo are elected, Michigan could join other states that have already put in place the framework to be able to overturn future election results.
“For the first time we now have candidates running for secretary of state and attorney general who actually deny the 2020 election results, who are trafficking in the Big Lie and perpetuate conspiracy theories that threaten and undermine our democracy,” Muller said.
There’s no longer an agreement that some Republican candidates will accept the result of their election and that’s a reality Benson and Muller say could be dangerous to the future of elections.
“These are lies that can turn potentially violent, potentially deadly,” Benson said. “I see unless there is real political and legal accountability for those who have tried to violate the law and undermine our democracy... we should expect it to continue or even escalate.”
Karamo of Oak Park is outraising other Republicans in the contest by a wide margin. Karamo has received the most contributions of any Republican candidate running for Secretary of State, raising a total of $133,054. Karamo’s campaign raised $64,099 during the latest reporting period, reports show.
She still lags far behind current Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, who netted $412,356 during the latest reporting period and has $1.4 million cash on hand, reports show.
End Citizens United / Let America Vote is committing $7 million to secretary of state and attorneys general races across the country and Muller announced during the press call Wednesday it will give money to support Democratic incumbents in the secretary of state and attorney general races in Michigan.
“We’re going to make sure that voters understand the clear contrast between the candidates,” Muller said, adding that she works with candidates on everything from messaging to research and communicating directly with voters.
Muller mentioned Republican-proposed legislation across the country in response to the frustration among some within the Republican base who believe the 2020 general election was stolen, despite there being no credible evidence to back up the claim.
In Michigan, Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has vetoed several pieces of a 39-bill package introduced by Republicans last March.
Related: Whitmer vetoes election bills she says perpetuated ‘Big Lie’
“These bills are being put in place for one reason and one reason only: to put barriers between voters and the ballot box,” Muller said.
Muller also referenced a Republican-backed ballot petition, Secure MI Vote. The petition, which will need 340,047 signatures from registered voters to be taken up by the state Legislature, would make sweeping changes to Michigan election laws and put new requirements for voters to ensure their vote counts.
The petition mirrors bills introduced by Republican lawmakers in Michigan to beef up election security since the November elections, when accusations were made by former President Trump and others that the 2020 November election was compromised by fraud.
While the majority of Republican lawmakers in Michigan have moved on from the idea that Donald Trump won the presidential election, party leadership has maintained an intention to overhaul voting laws as members of the party are still concerned about election security issues in Michigan.
Meanwhile, calls for bipartisan election changes local clerks say are imperative to enact before this year’s August primary and November general election have largely gone unanswered.
Associations of municipal and county clerks recently asked the Legislature to “put politics aside” to pass procedural changes they say would benefit clerks. The Michigan Bureau of Elections responded by making available $8 million in federal grant funding to pay for improvements to the physical security of election locations, purchase and upgrade technology and networks used to support election administration and procure services and personnel to help make elections secure.
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Millions in grants head to Michigan election officials for added security