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LANSING, Mich. -- State Senator Jim Runestad of Oakland County will host a Republican rally in Lansing at 3 o'clock Wednesday afternoon against a pair of senate bills he says would enable election fraud.
"It is extremely important that we have election integrity. It's the bedrock of our republic," Runestad said in a telephone interview with WOOD Radio. "And, unfortunately, what we're seeing the Democrats here in the Legislature do is pass a series of bills that will make it very difficult to have fair and trusted elections."
Runestad noted that Senate bills #603 and #604 would remove the existing power of the State Board of Canvassers to investigate potential wrongdoing in ballot recounts. The legislation would only allow votes to be recounted, but not to be investigated as to whether they were illegally cast or duplicated.
"The votes could be utterly tainted. They cannot explore if there was a whole series of votes that should not have been counted. If the ballot boxes are busted open and the seals broken, they must allow that (under the proposed legislation)," Runestad said.
Republican leaders believe the proposed changes in the bill package would make it extremely difficult to discover or correct any wrongdoing in future elections. Democratic leaders claim the bills would ensure the accuracy of recounts and modernize the election system.
One bill would codify elements of the National Voting Rights Act, But Senator Runestad said the legislation incorporates several quotas and could put local election clerks in a precarious position.
"All kinds of areas where local clerks can be sued, to the point where we've heard from so many clerks who say, 'I will resign if this bill passes.' It is that bad," Runestad said.
Wednesday's event will be in the Boji Tower conference room. The series of speakers includes:
Sen. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake. Sen. Ruth Johnson, R-Holly. Sen. Jonathan Lindsey, R-Allen. Rep. Ann Bollin, R-Brighton Rep. Rachelle Smit, R-Martin Rep. Jay DeBoyer, R-Clay Malinda Pego, Co-Chair MRP Patrice Johnson, Founder, Pure Integrity for Michigan Elections Patty McMurray, Investigative Journalist, Gateway Pundit.
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