DeVos-backed PAC joins national GOP group to promote absentee voting in Michigan

Drop box for absentee ballots in Detroit | Ken Coleman

Michigan Republicans have launched an effort to get GOP voters to utilize absentee ballots as they try to retake control of the state House in November.

But they’ll have to overcome the opposition from the man they hope to put back in the White House next year.

The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) PAC has kicked off an absentee and early voting (AB/EV) program in collaboration with the Michigan Freedom Network , an ultra conservative group backed by the DeVos Family that bills itself as the “first line of defense against the radical Left…committed to the principles of limited government, transparency, and our Constitutional freedoms.”

The groups say they are targeting state House races across Michigan to help Republican candidates win in the November election, which they believe will be decided by the same “razor-thin margin” that turned over control to Democrats in 2022 for the first time since 2010.

“This effort is backed by a massive seven-figure investment that will put Republicans in a strong position to challenge the Democrats’ vote-by-mail advantage this year and in future election cycles,” states a release . “This absentee and early vote effort will help to expand the Republican voting base by targeting low-propensity voters and engaging Republicans in the AB/EV process sooner than ever before to ensure that conservatives have the ability and resources to cast their vote in the manner that works best for them.”

While no specifics are provided on the origins of the “massive seven-figure investment,” public records indicate that of the $1,01million the Michigan Freedom Network received in contributions during the first quarter of this year, $1 million of that came from members of the DeVos family, including $125,000 from former U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and another $125,000 from her husband, GOP former gubernatorial nominee Dick DeVos, who ran in 2006.

The embrace of absentee, or vote-by-mail, ballots is a complete turnaround by Republicans, both in Michigan and nationwide, who have assailed the process as part of their repeatedly disproven claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent. In fact, former President Donald Trump has continued to say as much, as he told supporters at a February rally in Waterford Township .

“Mail in voting is totally corrupt. Get that through your head. It has to be. The votes. I mean, it has to be,” he said .

It also comes as the Republican National Committee (RNC) has unleashed a slew of lawsuits nationwide to try and restrict the ability of voters to use mail-in ballots, including in Georgia, North Carolina, Mississippi and Wisconsin.

Regardless, the effort’s organizers acknowledge the effectiveness of a robust absentee ballot and early voting program, citing success in Virginia last year when they realized a 26% increase in absentee ballot requests from 2021, with a corresponding 32% increase in absentee ballot returns that year.

“The stakes couldn’t be higher this year as Michigan’s hardworking men and women are being crushed by inflation driven by Democrats, our families are rightly afraid of crime in their neighborhood, and our students are trapped in failing schools by adults who are more interested in protecting their own interests than those of our kids. We are excited to join with the RSLC PAC in this unprecedented effort to win Michigan and start putting our state back on track,” said Michigan Freedom Fund Executive Director Sarah Anderson.

The initiative has created a website, skipthelinemi.vote , for voters to sign up for mail-in voting, although the site essentially links to the Michigan Secretary of State’s online absentee ballot application form , as well as the to the Michigan Voter Information Center .

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