{"id":2321856,"date":"2024-08-09T10:21:02","date_gmt":"2024-08-09T14:21:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-clerk-alleges-illegal-ballot-trafficking-in-detroit-area-town\/"},"modified":"2024-08-09T10:25:32","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T14:25:32","slug":"former-clerk-alleges-illegal-ballot-trafficking-in-detroit-area-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/former-clerk-alleges-illegal-ballot-trafficking-in-detroit-area-town\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Clerk Alleges Illegal Ballot Trafficking In Detroit-Area Town"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fformer-clerk-alleges-illegal-ballot-trafficking-in-detroit-area-town%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2321856&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A former clerk\u200d for Hamtramck, Michigan, August Gitschlag, made serious allegations\u200c about illegal ballot\u2064 trafficking and voter intimidation in the city, which \u2063is predominantly Muslim. \u200cHe\u200b claimed that city officials, during door-to-door visits, coerced residents into handing over their ballots, a practice known as ballot harvesting, which is illegal \u2064in Michigan. These comments \u200dwere recorded by an undercover journalist from Project Veritas, which has since released a video featuring multiple individuals making similar accusations against\u200c city officials regarding election misconduct.<\/p>\n<p>Gitschlag, who served as \u2064clerk \u2064from 2013\u200b to 2021, expressed concerns about how tight-knit immigrant \u2064communities could be more vulnerable to voter manipulation, noting that partisans often <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alabama-law-cracking-down-on-ballot-harvesting-challenged-as-violation-of-first-amendment\/\" title=\"Legal challenge against new Alabama law on ballot harvesting citing First Amendment violation\">collect <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/more-suspicious-elections-absentee-data-from-detroit-36-of-absentee-ballots-returned-were-from-people-who-were-not-listed-as-being-sent-an-absentee-ballot\/\" title=\"More Suspicious Elections Absentee Data from Detroit: 36% of Absentee Ballots Returned Were From People Who Were Not Listed as Being Sent an Absentee Ballot\">absentee ballot applications<\/a><\/a> and later\u200d return to obtain the completed ballots. He also mentioned instances of \u200bballots being bought\u2064 and\u200d sold, citing a \u2064&#8221;midnight meeting&#8221; where such transactions allegedly occurred.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally,\u200c recordings revealed conversations between Project Veritas representatives \u2063and city council members \u2062suggesting agreement to exchange \u200dballots. Despite the controversy surrounding \u200bthe\u2062 non-consensual recordings, both Gitschlag and other accusers expressed\u2062 their commitment to the truth of their allegations.<\/p>\n<p>Former Mayor Karen Majewski \u2063claimed to believe she was &#8220;ballot harvested&#8221; out of \u200boffice,\u2063 reaffirming the \u2062seriousness of the claims \u200dlaid against the city&#8217;s current leadership, which has been described as a stronghold for the Democratic party. The Federalist attempted to reach out \u200bto the involved city officials for comment but received no responses.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>A former clerk of the Detroit suburb of Hamtramck who told undercover investigators that city officials were illegally trafficking ballots and &ldquo;bullying&rdquo; voters into handing over their ballots told The Federalist he stands by his accusations.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;These guys go door-to-door and they take peoples&rsquo; ballots. They bully them into giving their ballots over,&rdquo; said Fraser City Clerk August Gitschlag &mdash; who served as Hamtramck <a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/gitschlag\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">clerk<\/a> from 2013 to 2021 &mdash; to an undercover Project Veritas journalist. &ldquo;They&rsquo;re harvesters.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Multiple people filmed in a Project Veritas <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Project_Veritas\/status\/1820450068521996584\">video<\/a> published Monday accused city officials in majority-Muslim Hamtramck of ballot harvesting and other election crimes. Ballot harvesting is illegal in Michigan.<\/p>\n<p>In the early 1900s, the Detroit suburb of Hamtramck was a Polish <a href=\"https:\/\/www.waynecounty.com\/departments\/econdev\/hamtramck.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">enclave<\/a>, but today, it is the only Muslim-majority city in America. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bestplaces.net\/voting\/city\/michigan\/hamtramck\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Democrat<\/a> stronghold <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freep.com\/story\/news\/politics\/elections\/2021\/11\/05\/hamtramck-first-muslim-city-council\/6288652001\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">elected<\/a> an all-Muslim city council in November 2021, and the body <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freep.com\/story\/news\/local\/michigan\/wayne\/2024\/05\/29\/hamtramck-council-approves-resolution-supporting-israel-divestment\/73887171007\/#\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">voted<\/a> in May to &ldquo;divest&rdquo; from Israel.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Tight-knit immigrant communities like Hamtramck are often more susceptible to voter fraud, Gitschlag told an undercover journalist.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They can run the show, intimidate&hellip; say, like, &lsquo;If you don&rsquo;t vote for me, your cousin has nowhere to live next year when he comes in,&rsquo;&rdquo; Gitschlag said in the video.<\/p>\n<p>Partisans circle neighborhoods with absentee ballot applications, which they collect and drop off at city hall, according to Gitschlag. Then they come back to get the votes.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;They go back to the person&rsquo;s house. They say, &lsquo;Give it up, sign the envelope, give me the ballot,&rsquo;&rdquo; Gitschlag said.<\/p>\n<p>Gitschlag told The Federalist he felt the non-consensual filming was &ldquo;super lame,&rdquo; but he maintains what he said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I stand by what I said, because I have been saying it for years,&rdquo; Gitschlag said. &ldquo;I do stand by the content.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>City council candidate Lynn Blasey further alleged to Project Veritas journalists that ballots had been bought and sold at a &ldquo;midnight meeting.&rdquo; She told The Federalist she opposes Project Veritas&rsquo; non-consensual recording, but regarding her allegations, she said &ldquo;I firmly stand by my words.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Project Veritas called City Councilman Mohammed Hassan and Mayor Pro-Tempore Abu&nbsp;Musa to offer them what they described as boxes of &ldquo;blank&rdquo; ballots from immigrants. Both of the men agreed to meet, and Hassan said he could &ldquo;drop&rdquo; them at the &ldquo;box&rdquo; at city hall, according to the audio recording.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;This is a trap. We have to see the name, is it Muslim or not?&rdquo; a man who Project Veritas reported was Hassan said in a phone call. &ldquo;If it is not signed &ndash; OK, give me the address. I&rsquo;ll go there. If it&rsquo;s everything good, we can drop to the city hall. City hall parking lot has the box, we can drop it to there.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The undercover journalist also called Musa, saying he came across blank ballots that he did not want to &ldquo;go to waste,&rdquo; so he put them on the steps of an abandoned house.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;You touched my heart, brother. Thank you very much,&rdquo; Musa said in the phone call recording. &ldquo;Listen, I&rsquo;ll come up, I&rsquo;ll meet you &ndash; how about this evening?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Federalist reached out to Musa and Hassan multiple times to ask if they ever attended &ldquo;midnight meetings&rdquo; or engaged in ballot harvesting, but they did not respond.<\/p>\n<p>Karen Majewski was Hamtramck&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehamtramckreview.com\/citys-first-female-mayor-gets-a-well-deserved-honor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">first<\/a> female mayor, and she served from 2006 to 2021, when current Mayor Amer Ghalib <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehamtramckreview.com\/citys-first-female-mayor-gets-a-well-deserved-honor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ousted<\/a> her from office. <\/p>\n<p>The Project Veritas undercover journalist asked Majewski if she felt she was &ldquo;ballot harvested out of office.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m absolutely positive that that happened,&rdquo; Majewski said in the video.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>In 2020, now-Mayor Ameer Ghalib apparently&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.meforum.org\/63372\/exclusive-islamist-hamtramck-mayor-bigotry\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bragged<\/a> about potentially committing voter fraud in the Democratic primary, as The Federalist previously <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2022\/08\/08\/why-is-the-media-turning-a-blind-eye-to-this-muslim-mayors-racism-and-alleged-election-fraud\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There were 20 people around me planning to vote for Biden because they loved Obama,&rdquo; Ghalib reportedly said. &ldquo;I got them to vote for Sanders and did their families&rsquo; ballot cards myself,&rdquo; <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Federalist reached out to Majewski and Ghalib, but they did not respond.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Other sources in the video claimed authorities were investigating potential election crimes in the community. The Federalist asked Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel&rsquo;s office about this, but did not hear back.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Authorities were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehamtramckreview.com\/election-investigation-is-ongoing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">interviewing<\/a> residents earlier this year about who handled their ballots in last fall&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/de-blasio-busts-out-pizza-chart-with-bizarre-toppings-for-educational-stunt-ahead-of-nyc-primaries\/\" title=\"De Blasio Busts Out Pizza Chart With Bizarre Toppings For Educational Stunt Ahead Of NYC Primaries\">city council election<\/a>, according to The Hamtramck Review. The paper reported that rumors were circling the community alleging some candidates were ballot harvesting and even filling out voters&rsquo; ballots, and that someone dumped &ldquo;bundles of ballots in the city&rsquo;s drop box.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In 2014, four men from the community pleaded guilty to felony charges of improperly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehamtramckreview.com\/av-ballot-defendants-plead-guilty\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">handling<\/a> absentee ballots. Gitschlag, the paper noted, was the one &ldquo;who alerted the Secretary of State&rsquo;s Office about the matter.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Logan Washburn is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-clark-county-keeps-commercial-addresses-on-voter-rolls\/\" title=\"Lawsuit: Clark County Keeps Commercial Addresses On Voter Rolls\">staff writer covering election integrity<\/a>. He graduated from Hillsdale College, served as Christopher Rufo&#8217;s editorial assistant, and has bylines in The Wall Street Journal, The Tennessean, and The Daily Caller. Logan is originally from Central Oregon but now lives in rural Michigan.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A former clerk from the Detroit suburb of Hamtramck, who informed undercover investigators about city officials allegedly engaging in illegal ballot trafficking and intimidating voters into surrendering their ballots, has reaffirmed his claims to The Federalist. August Gitschlag, who served as Hamtramck&#8217;s clerk from 2013 to 2021, stated to an undercover Project Veritas journalist, \u201cThese individuals go door-to-door and collect people&#8217;s ballots through intimidation. They are harvesters.\u201d In a video released by Project Veritas on Monday, several individuals accused officials in the predominantly Muslim city of Hamtramck of ballot harvesting and other electoral violations\u2014an act that is illegal in Michigan.<\/p>\n<p>Historically a Polish enclave in the early 1900s, Hamtramck is now recognized as the only Muslim-majority city in the United States. In November 2021, it elected an all-Muslim city council that voted to &#8220;divest&#8221; from Israel in May. Gitschlag noted that close-knit immigrant communities like Hamtramck are particularly vulnerable to voter fraud. He explained how intimidators might threaten voters by saying things like, \u201cIf you don\u2019t vote for me, your cousin will have nowhere to live next year when he arrives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to Gitschlag&#8217;s account, partisans circulate absentee ballot applications within neighborhoods which they then collect and submit at city hall before returning for the completed votes. He described this process: \u201cThey return to the person&#8217;s home and say \u2018Hand it over; sign the envelope; give me your ballot.\u2019\u201d Although he expressed disapproval of being filmed without consent during these discussions\u2014calling it &#8220;super lame&#8221;\u2014Gitschlag stands firm on his statements: \u201cI have been saying this for years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>City council candidate Lynn Blasey also alleged during her conversation with Project Veritas journalists that ballots were bought and sold at a &#8220;midnight meeting.&#8221; While she criticized Project Veritas&#8217; non-consensual recording methods, she affirmed her allegations: \u201cI firmly stand by my words.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Project Veritas approached City Councilman Mohammed Hassan and Mayor Pro-Tempore Abu Musa with offers of what they claimed were boxes of &#8220;blank&#8221; ballots from immigrants. Both men agreed to meet up; Hassan mentioned he could drop them off at a designated box at city hall according to audio recordings obtained.<\/p>\n<p>In one recorded phone call attributed to Hassan, he expressed caution about handling these ballots: \u201cThis is a trap&#8230; If it&#8217;s not signed \u2013 OK give me the address&#8230; we can drop it there.\u201d The undercover journalist also contacted Musa regarding some blank ballots he found that he didn\u2019t want wasted; Musa responded appreciatively and suggested meeting later that evening.<\/p>\n<p>The Federalist attempted multiple times to reach out for comments from Musa and Hassan regarding their involvement in any alleged midnight meetings or ballot harvesting but received no response.<\/p>\n<p>Karen Majewski was Hamtramck\u2019s first female mayor serving from 2006 until she was replaced by current Mayor Amer Ghalib in 2021. When asked if she believed she had been removed due to ballot harvesting efforts during her tenure by an undercover journalist from Project Veritas, Majewski replied affirmatively: \u201cI\u2019m absolutely positive that happened.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In previous reports dating back to 2020 concerning now-Mayor Ameer Ghalib\u2019s comments about potentially committing voter fraud during Democratic primaries surfaced where he claimed influence over others\u2019 voting decisions.<\/p>\n<p>The Federalist reached out again for comments but did not receive responses from either Majewski or Ghalib regarding these matters.<\/p>\n<p>Other sources featured in the video indicated ongoing investigations into possible election crimes within their community. The Federalist sought information on this matter from Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel\u2019s office but did not receive any feedback either way. Earlier reports indicated authorities had interviewed residents concerning who managed their ballots during last fall&#8217;s elections amid rumors suggesting candidates engaged in improper practices such as filling out voters&#8217; choices themselves or dumping large quantities of completed ballots into drop boxes.<\/p>\n<p>In past incidents dating back as far as 2014 involving four local men pleading guilty related specifically around mishandling absentee votes\u2014a situation brought forward initially thanks largely due diligence performed by Gitschlag himself alerting state officials about those irregularities<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":507,"featured_media":2321857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Screenshot-2024-08-06-at-1.31.17%E2%80%AFPM-1024x640.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[5609,37661,5897,32644,37660],"class_list":["post-2321856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-allegations","tag-ballot-trafficking","tag-detroit","tag-election-integrity","tag-former-clerk"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/Screenshot-2024-08-06-at-1.31.17%E2%80%AFPM-1024x640.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/507"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2321856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2321856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2321857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2321856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2321856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2321856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}