LANSING, Mich. — Wednesday morning the Michigan Republican Party sent out a press release with links to videos claiming to show election drop boxes unlocked, and with ballots accessible inside.
“I am outraged at the complete negligence shown by the Lansing City Clerk’s office and Jocelyn Benson. This is evidence that our election system has potentially been compromised,” Michigan Republican Party Chairman Laura Cox said in the press release.
Shortly thereafter Lansing City Clerk Chris Swope responded with a press release, stating that the envelope in the video was not a ballot and it was filmed on day of installation, on Friday, Sept. 25.
Clerk Swope wrote, “Drop boxes are a safe and secure way to vote; we have security cameras on all the ones we have installed this year.”
A statement was also released from Michigan Department of State spokesperson Jake Rollow, who wrote, “Ballot drop boxes have been securely locked since ballots were available. The Michigan Republican Party’s press release states that their video was shot two weeks ago (September 23), before absentee ballots were even mailed to voters, and the envelope in the video is clearly not a ballot envelope.”
He continued, "The claim there were ‘ballots inside’ is easily disproven by their own video. By sharing blatantly false statements in the press release, they are irresponsibly spreading misinformation likely intended to suppress voting among Michigan citizens. We have referred this matter to the Attorney General for investigation as election misinformation.”
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