Michigan Election Official Confirms That Six-Feet Distancing Rules Will Be Enforced for Poll Challengers on Election Day

In the aftermath of the #DetroitLeaks scandal, there are serious questions about electoral integrity in the state of Michigan. Big League Politics has reached out to representatives in the Trump campaign and officials with the Secretary of State to clarify what is being done with regards to poll challengers.

We released the audio from poll worker trainings in Detroit, in which the instructor and the prospective workers were cackling about how poll challengers would be disenfranchised due to social distancing mandates. The instructor advised for poll workers to call the police on poll challengers who refuse to adhere to these policies that are not based on any law passed by the state legislature.

We reached out to the Trump Victory team in Michigan to see what is being done with regards to protecting the rights of poll challengers to guard the vote. One representative from Trump Victory explained that the Secretary of State would be giving a directive to local clerks informing them that the six-feet distancing rule is not binding and will not be enforced.

However, Big League Politics reached out to the elections division of the Secretary of State and heard a contradictory perspective. We made contact with the Bureau of Elections Outreach Coordinator, Kristi Dougan, and had a brief discussion about the policy. Dougan confirmed that the six-feet distancing policy will be implemented on election day but danced around exactly how the policy will be enforced.

Dougan disputed the notion that poll challengers will be disenfranchised as a result of the six-feet distancing policy, and she believes that election officials will figure out ways on the fly to keep an orderly process.

“There are some creative ways to accommodate everyone involved,” she said.

However, grassroots conservative leaders in the state of Michigan are not content on letting the official Trump campaign and state electoral officials take care of this problem. State representative candidate Stephen Carra and election fraud whistleblower Bob Cushman have filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson demanding an injunction, as Big League Politics reported:

State representative candidate Stephen Carra and whistleblower Bob Cushman, who observed electoral fraud first hand in August, are filing a lawsuit against Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson over findings revealed in the #DetroitLeaks.

Carra and Cushman are filing a lawsuit against Benson as well as Jonathan Brater, who is Director of the Michigan Bureau of Elections. They claim that their rights as a political candidate and an election challenger are being violated due to Benson’s directives.

The complaint filed in the Court of Appeals on Friday alleges that Carra’s “special and substantial interest” in election integrity stems from his race for state representative in Michigan’s 59th district. Carra is running as a Republican to serve in the state legislature. The complaint also alleges that Cushman has a “special and substantial interest in the subject matter” due to his history as an electoral challenger, which will continue during next month’s election.

The lawsuit claims that Benson and Brater are breaking election law by enforcing social distance guidelines to disenfranchise poll challengers.

“Directly contrary to that duty, BENSON and/or BRATER have directed that local election officials can strictly require and enforce “social distancing” and face masking requirements upon election challengers as a condition of entry and performance of their duties,” the complaint alleges.

The lawsuit notes that there is no law on the books mandating these social distance requirements. They are based off of a Michigan Department of Health and Human Services directive that was issued in direct contradiction to an order from the Michigan supreme court.

“In summary, BENSON and/or BRATER have directed local election officials to condition the presence of election challengers upon wearing a face mask. Even while wearing a mask, an election challenger may not get closer than six feet to any election worker,” the complaint alleges.

Big League Politics will continue to report on this lawsuit and the fall-out from the #DetroitLeaks scandal.

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