{"id":2371060,"date":"2024-11-20T05:15:02","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T10:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/michigan-democrats-push-to-ban-unapproved-election-speech\/"},"modified":"2024-11-20T05:18:51","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T10:18:51","slug":"michigan-democrats-push-to-ban-unapproved-election-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/michigan-democrats-push-to-ban-unapproved-election-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan Democrats Push To Ban Unapproved Election Speech"},"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\">16<\/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%2Fmichigan-democrats-push-to-ban-unapproved-election-speech%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=2371060&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>Democrats in \u2063the Michigan state Senate are advocating for a last-minute bill, SB 707, aimed \u2064at\u200b banning false statements regarding elections. \u2064The bill proposes \u200cfines of\u200b $1,000 for individuals\u2062 who knowingly make \u2063false claims about elections and $10,000 for employers of\u2062 those accused\u200c if the misrepresentation is made for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawsuit-accuses-eric-of-privacy-and-voter-rights-violations\/\" title=\"Lawsuit Accuses ERIC Of Privacy And Voter Rights Violations\">election-related purposes<\/a>. Sponsored by nine Democrat state senators, the measure \u2062seeks\u200d to amend current election laws to \u200b<a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">regulate speech surrounding election logistics<\/a>, voter qualifications, and voter registration status. <\/p>\n<p>The bill recently passed through\u2063 the majority-Democrat \u200dElections and Ethics Committee on a party-line vote.\u200b Some Republican members expressed concerns regarding the clarity of the \u200bstandards\u200b that \u2064would determine intent \u200cbehind\u2063 false statements, raising fears that the bill could be misused as a political tool or\u2063 inadvertently punish individuals sharing information they believe \u2063to be true. <\/p>\n<p>As the legislative session approaches its end, there is urgency among Democrats to pass this\u2063 bill before Republicans take control of \u2064the state House. The \u200bbill&#8217;s future is uncertain,\u2062 but it could go to a Senate\u200c vote in\u2064 the coming weeks.  <\/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>Democrats in the Michigan state Senate are pushing a last-minute measure to ban election speech deemed false.<\/p>\n<p>SB 707 would <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislature.mi.gov\/documents\/2023-2024\/billcurrentversion\/Senate\/PDF\/2024-SCVBS-0707-0B735.PDF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">outlaw<\/a> &ldquo;intentionally and knowingly&rdquo; making a &ldquo;false statement or misrepresentation&rdquo; about elections, fining anyone who violates the law $1,000. An employer of the accused &ldquo;for an election-related purpose&rdquo; would face $10,000 in fines.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The bill <a href=\"https:\/\/michiganadvance.com\/2024\/11\/19\/michigan-senate-committee-approves-bill-to-outlaw-deliberate-election-disinformation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">passed<\/a> from the <a href=\"https:\/\/senate.michigan.gov\/Committees\/details?Code=ELEC&amp;sessionId=15\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">majority-Democrat<\/a> Elections and Ethics Committee on Nov. 13 on &ldquo;a party-line vote,&rdquo; said Republican state Sen. Ruth Johnson in a statement to The Federalist. State Sen. Ed McBroom and Johnson were the two Republicans on the committee, and they voted to &ldquo;pass,&rdquo; a third option that is not yes or no.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The two Republican members passed hoping to get more clarity on the standards that would be used to prove that something is done &lsquo;intentionally and knowingly with intent,&rsquo;&rdquo; Johnson said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>According to Johnson, the measure could potentially head to the state Senate for a vote next month before the end of the session, after which Republicans will take control of the state House. McBroom told The Federalist that if Democrats bring the bill to the floor in each house, he thinks it will pass.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2>Controlling Election Speech<\/h2>\n<p>Nine Democrat state senators <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislature.mi.gov\/Bills\/Bill?ObjectName=2024-SB-0707\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sponsored<\/a> the bill: Dayna Polehanki, Erika Geiss, Mallory McMorrow, Mary Cavanagh, Rosemary Bayer, Sean McCann, Stephanie Chang, Sue Shink, and Veronica Klinefelt.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The legislation <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislature.mi.gov\/Bills\/Bill?ObjectName=2024-SB-0707\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">amends<\/a> current election law to punish with a $1,000 fine &ldquo;an individual who intentionally and knowingly makes a false statement or misrepresentation to another individual&rdquo; about elections. It would <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislature.mi.gov\/documents\/2023-2024\/billcurrentversion\/Senate\/PDF\/2024-SCVBS-0707-0B735.PDF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">regulate<\/a> speech regarding &ldquo;time, place, or manner of elections&rdquo;; &ldquo;voter qualifications or restrictions&rdquo;; &ldquo;criminal penalties associated with voting&rdquo;; and &ldquo;an individual&rsquo;s voter registration status or eligibility.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The bill says these charges <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislature.mi.gov\/documents\/2023-2024\/billcurrentversion\/Senate\/PDF\/2024-SCVBS-0707-0B735.PDF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">apply<\/a> if the accused &ldquo;knows the statement or misrepresentation is false&rdquo; and intends to &ldquo;impede or prevent another individual&rdquo; from voting.<\/p>\n<p>If a group employs the accused for an &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-got-troops-killed-in-kabul-but-media-are-mad-at-trump\/\" title=\"Biden Got Troops Killed In Kabul, But Media Are Mad At Trump\">election-related&#038;rdquo<\/a>; purpose, it would also be fined up to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.legislature.mi.gov\/documents\/2023-2024\/billcurrentversion\/Senate\/PDF\/2024-SCVBS-0707-0B735.PDF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$10,000<\/a> unless it can prove it did not know the employee would &ldquo;make a false statement or misrepresentation.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Johnson said she thinks &ldquo;the intent is good&rdquo; but that &ldquo;the devil is in the details.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;People should not be intentionally giving out bad information to try to prevent anyone who is eligible from voting,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;What I don&rsquo;t want is for this to be misused as a political weapon against people who say something that is incorrect &mdash; and that they may even believe to be true.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Johnson said she is mainly concerned with whether a false statement is made &ldquo;&lsquo;intentionally and knowingly.&rsquo;&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t want to see someone being prosecuted because they shared or repeated information they maybe didn&rsquo;t even realize was inaccurate,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>McBroom echoed similar concerns, saying he is concerned about the criteria for judging the intent behind a false statement.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s based on intent, but it&rsquo;s not exactly clear as to what standard that intent will be judged,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;If there is a parody situation, a comedy situation, or something like that that&rsquo;s misunderstood, how do we protect the person using their First Amendment rights from being convicted of a crime that they never intended to do?&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>He said the current standard is by a &ldquo;preponderance of evidence,&rdquo; or that the evidence makes something <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vtd.uscourts.gov\/sites\/vtd\/files\/BURDEN%20OF%20PROOF%20-%20PREPONDERANCE%20OF%20EVIDENCE.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">more likely<\/a> to be true than not. McBroom hopes to raise the standard to require &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/wex\/clear_and_convincing_evidence#:~:text=The%20clear%20and%20convincing%20evidence,to%20be%20true%20than%20untrue.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">clear and convincing<\/a>&rdquo; evidence, requiring the prosecutor &ldquo;to prove that this person genuinely intended to mislead people and impede them from voting.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>McBroom said he will likely vote against the bill unless Democrats work with him to raise the standard.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m hoping they&rsquo;ll accept my concerns and amend the bill to recognize those, but I suspect they probably have the votes whether they take on my concerns or not,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I want to make sure that we&rsquo;re protecting people from being convicted of a crime that they never meant to commit.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<h2>Last-Ditch Measures<\/h2>\n<p>Democrats currently control both the state Senate and state House. But since Republicans won back the state House earlier this month, Democrats are in a &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/11\/11\/michigan-democrats-push-national-popular-vote-measures-in-final-moments-of-power\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lame duck<\/a>&rdquo; session during their final weeks controlling the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/democrats-criticize-bidens-failed-climate-promises-in-approving-alaska-willow-oil-project\/\" title=\"Democrats Criticize Biden\u2019s Failed Climate Promises in Approving Alaska Willow Oil Project\">entire state legislature<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Johnson said Democrats will likely push the measure during &ldquo;lame duck&rdquo; period and that it &ldquo;would have a good chance of passing the Democratic-controlled legislature.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s really important to clarify the language in the bill and make sure it&rsquo;s not impeding peoples&rsquo; 1st Amendment rights,&rdquo; she said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As The Federalist has reported, Michigan Democrats have been trying to push bills that would have Michigan join the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/11\/11\/michigan-democrats-push-national-popular-vote-measures-in-final-moments-of-power\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">National Popular Vote Compact<\/a> and carve out special protections for &ldquo;gender identity&rdquo; and &ldquo;sexual orientation&rdquo; in their final weeks of power.<\/p>\n<p>Michigan has seen a recent rise in threats toward free speech. As The Federalist reported, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has been encouraging residents to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/02\/secretary-of-state-asks-michiganders-to-report-their-neighbors-for-election-misinformation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">report<\/a> their neighbors to a government email address for election speech deemed &ldquo;misinformation.&rdquo; Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel also <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/07\/letter-from-michigan-ag-threatens-resident-with-prosecution-for-misleading-election-information\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">threatened<\/a> to prosecute a resident, who went on record for the first time with The Federalist, for making Facebook posts Nessel considered &ldquo;misleading.&rdquo;&nbsp;<\/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>Michigan Democrats propose a bill to ban false election speech<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":507,"featured_media":2371061,"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\/11\/The_Michigan_Capitol_completed_in_1879_in_Lansing.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[7008,3685,3728,32311,4601],"class_list":["post-2371060","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-ban","tag-democrats","tag-election","tag-free-speech","tag-michigan"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/The_Michigan_Capitol_completed_in_1879_in_Lansing.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2371060","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=2371060"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2371060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2371064,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2371060\/revisions\/2371064"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2371061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2371060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2371060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2371060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}