When a Republican primary candidate for a local township post in Michigan made posts on social media, she didn’t anticipate what she characterized as a “Shut up, lady” letter from the state attorney general’s office threatening to prosecute her.
The GOP candidate, Kerry Lynn Elieff, described new polling locations in a June 12 post on the Facebook page for her campaign for Ross Township supervisor, as well as on other social media accounts.
“I wanted to get ahead of this. I wasn’t sure if voters realized that the voting location where some voted for decades had changed,” Elieff told The Daily Signal.
“Late last week, I was shocked,” she said, describing how she got a cease-and-desist letter from the Michigan Attorney General’s Office.
The letter from Robbin N. Liddell, chief of that office’s Criminal Trials Division, arrived just weeks after Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, announced an effort to “combat any election-related misinformation targeting Michigan voters.”
It’s not clear whether the two developments are related since neither Benson’s office nor the office of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, also a Democrat, has commented on Elieff’s concern.
“They sent the letter without reaching out, or even saying, if you feel there is an error contact us,” Elieff, who lost her primary challenge on Tuesday to an incumbent supervisor, told The Daily Signal on Thursday. “There was no investigation. It was a beatdown. It was a ‘Shut up, lady’ message.”
On Tuesday, the day of the primary election, Nessel posted on X that her office was taking election infractions seriously. In that case, the state attorney general was referring to political signs near polling locations. Nessel called on voters to report infractions to 866-OUR-VOTE.
Liddell’s July 24 letter to GOP candidate Elieff read, in part: “It has come to the attention of our office that you have spread misleading or false election information regarding polling locations in Ross Township through on-line sites. Specifically, MCL 168.932(a) prohibits and criminalizes this conduct.”
Her letter says Elieff must “CEASE AND DESIST the use of online platforms to continue spreading false or misleading information regarding the Ross Township polling locations.”
Elieff said she doesn’t know what was “misleading” about what she posted and isn’t aware of anyone else challenging the accuracy of her posts.
The Michigan statute specified by Liddell reads: “A person shall not attempt, by means of bribery, menace, or other corrupt means or device, either directly or indirectly, to influence an elector in giving his or her vote, or to deter the elector from, or interrupt the elector in giving his or her vote at any election held in this state.”
In this case, “elector” means voter.
Patrice Johnson, chairwoman of Michigan Fair Elections, said her organization’s lawyer reviewed the situation and determined that the election statute doesn’t apply to Elieff’s social media posts.
In a Friday post on X, Nessel praised Liddell, who was recognized at a conference of national prosecutors earlier in the week.
Elieff told The Daily Signal that her social media posts certainly shouldn’t have discouraged anyone from voting.
“I even said in one of the videos, don’t let this keep you from voting, vote absentee,” she said.
After hearing that radio host Justin Barclay had talked about the government’s targeting of Michigan residents with allegations of election misinformation, Elieff shared Liddell’s letter with him. The Midwesterner and The Federalist reported additional details.
“I know everything I posted is true. But I thought this isn’t worth going to jail for, so I modified or deleted some posts,” Elieff said.
Ross Township officials didn’t respond to The Daily Signal’s phone and email inquiries Friday.
Elieff lost the Republican primary Tuesday to incumbent Supervisor Christina Hutchings, but stressed she has no qualms about the election results.
“I didn’t win and I’m fine with that,” she said.
Elieff said she is concerned instead that others who are politically active could be silenced.
“I’m not aware of others, but if they are going after someone in little Ross Township, they might be emboldened to go after others,” she said.
Ross Township near Kalamazoo, Michigan, has a population of fewer than 5,000 residents, according to the 2020 census.
A spokesperson for the Michigan Attorney General’s Office didn’t respond to The Daily Signal’s inquiries.
The office’s action came just weeks after Benson, Michigan’s secretary of state, announced a “Democracy Ambassador” program. A press release said one goal was to “combat any election-related misinformation targeting Michigan voters.”
Separately, a one-page “Election Misinformation” document posted as a PDF on the Michigan Department of State’s website says: “If you see misleading or inaccurate information regarding voting or elections in Michigan, please report it—and include an image if possible—to [email protected].”
Elieff said she isn’t aware of any connection with what happened to her.
The Michigan Department of State didn’t respond to The Daily Signal’s inquiries about whether it was aware of the incident or whether anyone there referred the matter to the state’s attorney general.
