False electors and a Barbie backfire: Your guide to Michigan politics – MLive.com

July 23, 2023

Happy Sunday! Summer is usually a quiet time for state politics news. Not right now.

Here are five stories to know from this week.

File: A protester waves a Trump flag during rally organized by a group called Election Integrity Fund and Force at the Michigan State Capitol, Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021, in Lansing, Mich. (Jake May/The Flint Journal via AP, File)

Remember after the 2020 election when 16 Michigan Republicans signed a fake Electoral College certificate to replace votes for Joe Biden with votes for Donald Trump?

Now they could go to prison.

Attorney General Dana Nessel charged them with eight felonies each, including forgery and conspiracy.

“The evidence will demonstrate there was no legal authority for the false electors to purport to act as ‘duly elected presidential electors’ and execute the false electoral documents,” Nessel said.

Go deeper: Inside the attorney general’s case against Michigan’s false electors

The 16 people indicted include former MIGOP co-chair Meshawn Maddock and current MIGOP vice chair Marian Sheridan.

There are also local officials:

Shelby Township Clerk Stan Grot, who the Bureau of Elections pulled from his duties.
Wyoming Mayor Kent Vanderwood, who remains in office after the city noted his actions “did not take place in his capacity as a city official.”
Grand Blanc school board member Amy Facchinello, who could face a recall.

Conviction, however, is an “uphill battle,” according to Notre Dame election law professor Derek Muller.

He told MLive a similar situation in Hawaii six decades ago means Nessel must show the false electors had “intent” to commit the crimes.
“To the extent that these electors believed they were just preserving the record … it’s very hard for the prosecutors to win,” Muller said.

More: Michigan GOP, after a pause, excoriates Nessel over Trump elector charges

File photo of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signing a bill.

Michigan’s next education budget, signed Thursday by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, is a record $24.3 billion.

What’s inside:

$9,608 K-12 per-pupil spending, the largest ever and a $458 increase from last year.
More money for districts with the most economically disadvantaged students.
Free breakfast and lunch for all PreK-12 students.

There is also:

$225 million to give school employees monthly payments to help pay back student loans.
More than $200 million to help reverse learning loss during the pandemic.

“This budget was written to help anyone and everyone be able to make it here in Michigan,” Whitmer said, “with a strong academic foundation that starts early and continues through higher education and beyond.”

The new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

File photo. (Cory Morse | MLive.com)

The governor also signed a handful of bills this week that passed before the legislature left for summer break.

To-go cocktails, which helped keep bars and restaurants afloat during COVID-19 shutdowns, are now permanently legal.

“Three years in, it’s proven to be a popular new way for customers to support their favorite restaurants and has resulted in zero reported violations or safety issues,” said Sen. Mallory McMorrow, D-Royal Oak.

Public universities can sell alcohol at stadiums and arenas, after Whitmer signed Senate Bill 247.

The goal is to reduce binge drinking before games and bring in more revenue.
Colleges will need to apply for liquor licenses first.

Expansions of voting rights and access thanks to Proposal 2 last November are now official.

Whitmer signed laws implementing six broad changes to elections.
One change not from Prop 2: Counting of early votes before Election Day, which will report results faster.

FILE: Commissioner Anthony Eid takes notes during a redistricting hearing on draft political maps put forward by Michigan’s independent redistricting commission in Detroit on Wednesday Oct. 20, 2021.

Nineteen months since completing its maps, Michigan’s redistricting commission is making headlines after an ethics debate boiled over in Thursday’s meeting.

Leading up to the meeting:

Commissioner Anthony Eid takes a job as executive director of a nonprofit that once lobbied the commission.
Commissioner Rebecca Szetela asks for an ethics discussion and ruling on the matter.
Commission leadership and attorneys review the code of conduct and conflict-of-interest policies.

The finding: “At this time, our attorneys have no concerns on this matter,” the report states.

But since attorneys are not directly quoted in the report — and after commissioners voted to delete her ethics discussion from the agenda — Szetela alleged being silenced.

“I think that there is a cover-up going on to protect Commissioner Eid from his own behavior and his own bad choices,” Szetela said.

Some members came to her defense and others called her airing of grievances inappropriate and embarrassing.

Leadership denied a cover-up, and Eid told MLive of the report: “I think this document speaks for itself.”

Peel off more layers: ‘Cover-up’ alleged as Michigan redistricting member cleared of ethics violation

Michigan State Police deleted a post picturing Barbie in uniform.

State government hopped on the Barbie movie craze this week, but not every doll stayed out to play.

Michigan State Police tweeted a photo of a Barbie in MSP uniform, trying to drum up recruitment.

“From a trooper to a forensic scientist, a motor carrier officer to a pilot, the possibilities are endless,” it read.

But the agency soon deleted the post “out of respect” for MSP’s female members, it gave as the only explanation.

Gov. Whitmer’s Barbie tweets, however, were widely praised:

“This campaign will hopefully help show people that yes, girls can embrace who they are and do what girls do best: lead,” Whitmer communications chief Kaylie Hanson told MLive.

Bonus: Don’t forget DNR Barbie!

5 more stories from MLive:

5 Democrats, 1 Republican in House face recalls for red flag, hate crime votes