‘Racially-charged’ robocall discourages vote-by-mail in Detroit, Michigan official says
A “racially-charged” robocall is using false information to target Detroit voters and discourage them from voting by mail, Michigan officials say.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson tweeted Thursday her office received a recording of the robocall, which she said used “racially-charged stereotypes and false information to deter voting by mail.”
The Michigan Department of State posted a recording of the call on YouTube.
“Mail-in voting sounds great, but did you know that if you vote by mail, your personal information will be part of the public database that will be viewed by police departments to track down old warrants and be used by credit card companies to collect outstanding debts?” the call falsely says.
The recording goes on to falsely say the information can be used to force people to get vaccines and tells people not to vote by mail.
Voting by mail is safe and the “process is secure,” the department has previously said.
Benson described the call as an “unconscionable, indefensible, blatant attempt” to lie to voters about their rights.
Officials are investigating and ask that anyone who hears possible election misinformation to contact the Michigan Department of State’s Bureau of Elections at 517-335-3234, Elections@Michigan.gov or via private messages on social media.
The person in the call says they are with Project 1599, an organization founded by Jack Burkman and Jacob Wohl.
Who are Burkman and Wohl?
The two are known for attempted smears and pushing conspiracy theories, according to The Cut.
The two previously made false allegations of sexual assault against special counsel Robert Mueller, The Washington Post reports. They’ve also previously held a press conference with a 25-year-old “ex-marine” falsely claiming Sen. Elizabeth Warren hired him as an “escort,” CNBC News reports.
They’ve also attempted to take down others they view as adversaries to President Donald Trump, such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, with made-up scandals, according to The Cut.
Wohl was previously charged for allegedly trying to sell unqualified securities in California and was also suspended from Twitter for operating fake accounts, NBC News reports.
He’s “adopted and amplified nearly every prominent conspiracy theory to arise in the last year,” NBC News reported in 2018.
Vote-by-mail in 2020
Voting by mail has been a contentious topic in the United States.
While many have pushed for its expansion in the upcoming election due to the coronavirus pandemic, Trump and others in the White House have repeatedly, and without evidence, said vote-by-mail leads to fraud and hurts his chances of winning.
But researchers have found universal vote by mail wouldn’t swing the election either way.
The president has also threatened legal action against swing states that expand mail-in voting, McClatchy News reports.
Michigan is expected to be one of the most “consequential” states in the upcoming election, The Detroit Free Press reports.
Michigan is considered a swing state in the presidential election. It narrowly voted for Trump over then-Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 2016, the first time a Republican presidential hopeful won the state since 1988.
And this year’s race could be “some of the most consequential in decades,” per the Detroit Free Press. The state could decide who wins the presidency and its Senate race could determine which party controls the U.S. Senate.
This story was originally published August 27, 2020 at 2:10 PM with the headline "‘Racially-charged’ robocall discourages vote-by-mail in Detroit, Michigan official says."
