The Daily Signal is reporting that the top prosecutor’s office in the state of Michigan has threatened to prosecute a citizen for spreading allegedly “false election information” in the swing state months ahead of the 2024 presidential vote. This is an ominous sign. Critics warn such lawfare could metastasize throughout the country during a Harris-Walz administration. Harris has said the First Amendment does not apply to “misinformation.”
Kerry Lynn Elieff, a primary candidate for Ross Township supervisor, posted a message on social media complaining that the polling places for Precincts 1 and 2 had been changed with less than 60 days’ notice, as required by state law, on July 12.
Less than two weeks later, she received a letter from the office of Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, threatening her with prosecution if she does not stop spreading alleged misinformation.
This certainly appears to be an attempt to use lawfare to silence someone who is pointing out an apparent violation of election law. It also appears to be an attempt to silence anyone who would speak up about election irregularities in the upcoming election in November.
Experts fear that such lawfare activities in violation of the First Amendment may spread nationwide during a Harris-Walz election campaign. In addition to Harris, Minnesota Gov. and vice-presidential candidate Tim Walz has said that he does not believe statements he considers false are covered by the First Amendment.
“There’s no guarantee to free speech on misinformation or hate speech and especially around our democracy,” said Walz in December 2022.
This is a direct attack on the First Amendment. Presumably, any post opposing assertions that an election was conducted fairly may potentially fall into the category of “misinformation” or “false election information,” triggering the threat of prosecution.
So, both Democratic candidates for president have come out opposing the First Amendment. This follows a pattern seen in other western countries over the last few years. Multiple governments, America included, attempted to suppress information about COVID that was contrary to the “facts” put out by such governments. Who can forget the “safe and effective” claims about treatments for COVID.
House Republican investigators and the Twitter Files, commissioned by X platform owner Elon Musk, have uncovered a vast public-private partnership to silence and stifle free speech online, as unelected government employees set up backdoor portals flagging social media messages for platforms to throttle, shadow-ban, or remove—at times, closing the user’s social media account completely, even in the midst of a government-ordered public lockdown credited with harming the mental health of a generation.
It is clear that under a Harris-Walz administration, we would see an increasing censorship of Americans by their government. This would be accomplished by unconstitutional lawfare activities to make people fear to open their mouths about malfeasance that they witness.
Michigan was the site of significant election irregularities during the 2020 election. This action by the AG of Michigan to suppress a legitimate complaint is just one step in a series of steps to end any complaints about how the election will be conducted in Michigan.