Michigan

CIS Albert Sensor MOAs Waiving Election-Network Privacy (MI)

Established Fact, Michigan, Privatized Election Operations, Privileged Access, United States, Wayne County /

Established Fact The Center for Internet Security (CIS) executed Memoranda of Agreement with local governments, including Wayne County, for Albert sensor monitoring. The MOAs granted CIS the right to inspect network traffic “in a decrypted state” and explicitly stated that users “have no reasonable expectation of privacy” on those monitored networks. In practice, this centralized […]

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Brater Memorandum – Clerks Prohibited from Independent Verification; Uncertified Vendors Given Exclusive Access (MI)

Established Fact, Michigan, Privatized Election Operations, Privileged Access, United States /

Established Fact Michigan Director of Elections Jonathan Brater issued a memorandum on August 4, 2021, directing all Michigan clerks that they “should never allow access to election equipment to entities other than election officials and staff, licensed vendors, and accredited VSTLs.” The memo warned that granting access to unauthorized personnel “may result in the decertification

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MI SoS Using State Resources for Partisan Projects (MI)

Election Operations Bias, Financial Influence, Michigan, Reasonable Inference, United States /

Reasonable Inference MI Department of State Director of “Special Projects” Sally Marsh used state resources to conduct partisan GOTV projects targeting youth and ex-convicts as well as poll worker recruitment efforts. As the former Deputy Campaign Manager for the MI Secretary of State, her efforts as a state employee were likely biased in favor of

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Biden Voter Bias in MCELA–CEIR Grant for “Voter Education” as In‑Kind GOTV (MI)

Election Operations Bias, Financial Influence, Michigan, Reasonable Inference, United States, Wisconsin /

Reasonable Inference Jocelyn Benson’s Michigan Center for Election Law and Administration (MCELA) received a multi‑million‑dollar grant from CEIR to fund “voter education” and digital outreach. The national and Michigan reports document that state resources and CEIR funds were used to produce and distribute messaging tailored to demographics associated with “Biden profile” voters, notwithstanding sufficient available

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CTCL‑Funded Detroit Satellite Centers and Mobile GOTV Units (MI)

Detroit, Election Operations Bias, Established Fact, Financial Influence, Michigan, United States, Wayne County /

Established Fact Detroit accepted CTCL grants totaling between 3.5 and 7.4 million dollars, conditioned on adding 14 satellite voting centers, 30 drop boxes, and sharply increased poll‑worker pay; Muskegon received funds for a branded GOTV trailer. These privately designed deployments materially reshaped local election operations and access patterns in ways that boosted turnout in heavily

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CTCL Grant Funding Concentrated in 2016-Clinton Jurisdictions; Rural Areas Excluded (MI)

Election Operations Bias, Established Fact, Financial Influence, Michigan, United States /

Established Fact Of Michigan’s 135 CTCL grant recipients above the $5,000 minimum, 90 were jurisdictions won by Joe Biden in 2020 — receiving $14.6 million, or 86 percent of all CTCL funds distributed in the state — while the 45 Trump-plurality recipients received just 14 percent. The largest awards went to urban centers with strong

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Undercapitalized Drop Box Surveillance in CTCL-Funded Jurisdictions (MI)

Election Operations Bias, Established Fact, Financial Influence, Michigan, Muskegon, Muskegon County, United States /

Established Fact Muskegon County received a CTCL grant that was used, in part, for voting equipment and election infrastructure deployment in the 2020 general election. The absence of surveillance coverage — particularly given Michigan law’s pre-October 2020 exemption of earlier-installed drop boxes from video monitoring requirements — was significant because Muskegon County was simultaneously the

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Unmonitored 24/7 Drop Box Network Deployed Without Chain-of-Custody Logs; FOIA Evasion (MI)

Detroit, Election Operations Bias, Established Fact, Financial Influence, Michigan, United States, Wayne County /

Established Fact A $7.4 million CTCL grant funded Detroit’s deployment of 30 drop boxes across the city for the 2020 general election. Observers documented that absentee ballots were transported from these drop boxes and satellite centers to the Detroit Department of Elections and then onward to the TCF Center in large commercial Penske rental trucks

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Former State Elections Director Hired as Private CTCL-Funded Advisor to Largest City (MI)

Detroit, Election Operations Bias, Established Fact, Financial Influence, Michigan, United States, Wayne County /

Established Fact Detroit’s CTCL-funded partnership with the Michigan Secretary of State included the engagement of Christopher Thomas — former Michigan Bureau of Elections Director and 40-year state elections official under both Republican and Democratic administrations — as a senior advisor to Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey from September 3 through December 12, 2020. Thomas, a

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Privatization of Poll Worker Hiring and Inflation of Compensation Through CTCL Grants (MI)

Detroit, Election Operations Bias, Established Fact, Financial Influence, Michigan, United States, Wayne County /

Established Fact Detroit utilized its $7.4 million CTCL grant – which nearly doubled its Department of Elections budget of $10.5 million – in part to fund the hiring of up to 2,000 temporary election workers through a private staffing firm linked to an associate of former Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (convicted on 24 federal felony counts).

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