SOUTH COUNTY REPUBLICAN CLUB HOLDS SECOND MEETING

By DEBRA HAIGHT

BUCHANAN – Area residents got the chance to learn more about 2020 election irregularities thanks to speakers at last Saturday’s South County Republican Club’s program. People heard updates from 2022 candidates as well as state conservative leaders on election integrity.

Last week also saw elections in two Berrien County municipalities. Voters in the city of St. Joseph narrowed the field for three city commission seats from nine to six, while Oronoko Township residents approved a police millage renewal.

The six St. Joseph City Commission candidates receiving the most votes in order to move on to the November general election were Mike Sarola, Marc Williams, Ben Rimes, Tom Jennings, Brook Thomas and Michele Binkley. Those not making the cut were Tess Ulrey, Elizabeth Thomas and Chris Lannert.

Two four-year seats and one two-year seat are open on the commission. The top two vote-getters in November will get the four-year seats while the person getting the third most votes will get the two-year seats. The only incumbent in the field is Binkley who was appointed to fill a vacancy on the commission earlier this year.

In the Oronoko Township election, the vast majority, nearly 80 percent, voted yes on the millage. The millage renewal was approved with 561 yes votes and 147 no votes. The four-mill levy will now be levied through 2023 and raise over $1 million each year to fund the department.

Back to Saturday’s program, Michigan Conservative Coalition President Matt Seely gave attendees breaking news on the possibility of having a forensic audit done of the 2020 November general election results in Michigan. A number of states around the country have authorized forensic audits of the 2020 election returns.

He said he and others pushing for a forensic audit have been heartened in recent weeks by the legislature’s decision to rescind a 1945 emergency powers law that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer used during the pandemic. The legislature acted after 500,000 signatures were gathered on “Unlock Michigan” petitions which the Michigan Supreme Court ruled valid.

Seely said he expects to see another 500,000 signatures collected on petitions calling for a forensic election audit, an audit that he said people have a right to ask for. “We will get another 500,000 signatures that we will turn in along with new election laws because of you,” he told those assembled.

Seely, former State Sen. Patrick Colbeck and Republican Secretary of State candidate Kristina Karamo all spoke

about the need for a forensic audit and related their experiences as poll watchers in Detroit on Election Night last November.

Karamo said the fraud in the November 2020 election was systemic and included everything from unsolicited and unaccountable absentee, mail-in ballots being sent out across the state to the election tabulators being connected to the internet which makes them vulnerable to manipulation.

“Jocelyn Benson (the current Secretary of State) has not been held accountable for what she did and she’s doing it again,” Karamo said. “They say we’re sore losers and not accepting the election results but we’re not going to stop.”

“It’s a maze, election systems should be simplified,” she added as she related some of what she saw on election night such as ballots held in unauthorized containers, electronic poll books crashing and procedures not followed for verifying signatures on ballot applications.

Colbeck has been one of those leading the election fraud fight in Michigan. He’s written a new book called “Wrestling Gators” about fighting government corruption and was scheduled to speak this week at a national election fraud conference being organized by My Pillow founder Mike Lindell.

“Nine months after the election, the fire is still in our belly,” he said. “Why are we still talking about election integrity? We saw what happened on election night, we saw the arrogance of those who flaunted what they did and we saw the violations of laws and ethics. That’s why we’re still active.”

Colbeck gave a small sample of all the violations of the law that he’s found in his research. The violations he found fell into four categories: chain of custody violations, statutory violations, constitutional violations and influence operations. People can find information on all he’s found at the www.letsfixstuff.org website.

Like Karamo, he said people wanting to get to the bottom of election integrity questions have to look at more than just the ballots to how the ballots were cast. “The Michigan Senate (which recently reported they found no election fraud) doesn’t understand voter fraud,” he said. “They were told how things are supposed to work, not how they actually worked. They need to start listening to those who witnessed what happened.”

Congressional candidates Jon Rocha and Ezra Scott both spoke during the meeting. They are among several Republicans expected to run against U.S. Rep. Fred Upton next year if Upton decides to run for re-election. Upton has been rebuked by a number of area Republican county organizations for his support of President Trump’s second impeachment.

Scott and St. Joseph resident David Yardley presented information on the “Zuck Bucks” that Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg funneled through non-profit organizations to give grants to local clerks in Michigan and other states. “The Secretary of State and the organization giving the money hid where the money came from,” Scott said.

They noted that several Berrien County municipalities received the “Zuck Buck” grants including the cities of Benton Harbor, Buchanan and Niles and most likely didn’t know where the money actually came from. “People don’t know what they don’t know,” Scott said. “We need to start asking what the money was used for.”

“They targeted 11 counties in the state where the Democratic turnout is usually low but where there is high potential of more votes,” Yardley said. “The money they gave was spent on sending out absentee ballots and ballot drop boxes, all in the name of COVID. We’ve been a great disservice and another theft besides fraud.”

Seely encouraged all those interested in challenging Upton to run, but urged candidates to get behind one candidate to challenge Upton 60 days out from the primary election. “If you don’t, it will cannibalize the vote and Upton will get another term,” he said.