District 9 Republicans,

Now is the time to research how you plan to vote in the upcoming May special elections, which will be held in selected jurisdictions. Here’s a simple guide to help you get started:

1. Review the information below to see if the elections affect you.

2. Study the proposals – you may need to visit your county or township supervisor’s website to learn more and decide how to vote.

3. Share this email with friends and neighborsin your area (this is very important).

4. Make sure to get out and VOTE!

Low voter turnout has been a significant issue for the Republican Party in Michigan, especially in red areas. This needs to change, and it will be one of our D-9 initiatives for this cycle.

Stay tuned for more updates on that front.

Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker Schools Bond Proposal

Shall Elkton-Pigeon-Bay Port Laker Schools, Huron County, Michigan, borrow the sum of not to exceed Twelve Million Seven Hundred Thousand Dollars ($12,700,000) and issue its general obligation unlimited tax bonds therefor for the purpose of:

Erecting additions to, remodeling, furnishing and refurnishing, and equipping and re-equipping school buildings; erecting a school support building; acquiring and installing instructional technology and instructional technology equipment for school buildings; purchasing school busses; and equipping, developing and improving a playground, an athletic facility, parking areas, driveways, and sites?

The following is for informational purposes only:

The estimated millage that will be levied for the proposed bonds in 2025 is .72 mill ($0.72 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation) for a 0 mill net increase over the prior year’s levy. The maximum number of years the bonds may be outstanding, exclusive of any refunding, is twenty (20) years. The estimated simple average annual millage anticipated to be required to retire this bond debt is 1.13 mills ($1.13 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation).

(Pursuant to State law, expenditure of bond proceeds must be audited and the proceeds cannot be used for repair or maintenance costs, teacher, administrator or employee salaries, or other operating expenses.)

Fairhaven Township Mosquito Abatement

Shall Fairhaven Township be authorized to raise money for the purpose of providing mosquito abatement by establishing a Township-wide special assessment district that imposes special assessments on benefitting lands under MCL 41.3c including up to $58.00 annually per parcel for the 2025 tax year?

Davison Community Schools Sinking Fund Millage Proposal

Shall the limitation on the amount of taxes which may be assessed against all property in Davison Community Schools, Genesee and Lapeer Counties, Michigan, be increased by and the board of education be authorized to levy not to exceed 1.3575 mills ($1.3575 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation) for a period of 10 years, 2026 to 2035, inclusive, to create a sinking fund for the purchase of real estate for sites for, and the construction or repair of, school buildings; for school security improvements; for the acquisition or upgrading of technology; for the acquisition of student transportation vehicles; for the acquisition of parts, supplies, and equipment used for the maintenance of student transportation vehicles; for the acquisition of eligible trucks and vans used to carry parts, equipment, and personnel for or in the maintenance of school buildings; for the acquisition of parts, supplies, and equipment used to maintain such trucks and vans; and all other purposes authorized by law; the estimate of the revenue the school district will collect if the millage is approved and levied in 2026 is approximately $1,554,667?

GRAND BLANC COMMUNITY SCHOOLS BUILDING AND SITE SINKING FUND RENEWAL PROPOSAL

This proposal will renew and restore the authority last approved by the electors in 2019 and which expires with the 2025 levy for the School District to levy a building and site sinking fund millage, the proceeds of which will be used to make improvements and repairs to the School District’s facilities. Pursuant to State law, the expenditure of the building and site sinking fund millage proceeds must be audited, and the proceeds cannot be used for teacher, administrator or employee salaries, maintenance or other operating expenses.

Shall the Grand Blanc Community Schools, County of Genesee, Michigan, be authorized to levy 0.9915 mills ($0.99 per $1,000 of taxable valuation) for a period of ten (10) years, being the years 2026 to 2035, inclusive, to maintain a sinking fund to be used for the construction or repair of school buildings, school security improvements, the acquisition or upgrading of technology, the acquisition of student transportation vehicles, trucks and vans and parts, supplies and equipment used for the maintenance of these vehicles and for any other purposes permitted by law?  This millage if approved and levied would provide estimated revenues to the School District of approximately $_2,335,025__ in the first year that it is levied.

YALE PUBLIC SCHOOLS SINKING FUND MILLAGE RENEWAL PROPOSAL

This proposal will allow the school district to continue to levy the building and site sinking fund millage that expires with the 2025 tax levy.

Shall the currently authorized millage rate of .9946 mill ($0.9946 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation) which may be assessed against all property in Yale Public Schools, St. Clair and Sanilac Counties, Michigan, be renewed for a period of 7 years, 2026 to 2032, inclusive, to continue to provide for a sinking fund for the purchase of real estate for sites for and the construction or repair of school buildings and all other purposes authorized by law; the estimate of the revenue the school district will collect if the millage is approved and levied in 2026 is approximately $550,000 (this is a renewal of millage that will expire with the 2025 tax levy)?

AUTHORIZATION OF ROAD IMPROVEMENT MILL-AGE

Shall the Township of Kenockee, St. Clair County, Michigan, renew a millage under Article IX, Section 6 of the Michigan Constitution on general ad valorem taxes within Kenockee Township, St. Clair County, Michigan, in the amount of 0.8 mills ($0.80 per $1000 of taxable value) for a period of four (4) years, 2025 through 2028, inclusive, for the sole purpose of providing funds for road improvements within Kenockee Township, where by levying such a millage for said purpose, the Township of Kenockee shall raise in the first year an estimated revenue of $79,329.88?

ALGONAC COMMUNITY SCHOOLS OPERATING MILLAGE RENEWAL PROPOSAL

This proposal will allow the school district to continue to levy the statutory rate of not to exceed 18 mills on all property, except principal residence and other property exempted by law, required for the school district to receive its revenue per pupil foundation allowance and renews millage that will expire with the 2025 tax levy.

Shall the currently authorized millage rate limitation of 18.7435 mills ($18.7435 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation) on the amount of taxes which may be assessed against all property, except principal residence and other property exempted by law, in Algonac Community Schools, St. Clair County, Michigan, be renewed for a period of 3 years, 2026, 2027 and 2028, to provide funds for operating purposes; the estimate of the revenue the school district will collect if the millage is approved and 18 mills are levied in 2026 is approximately $5,471,289 (this is a renewal of millage that will expire with the 2025 tax levy)?

REESE PUBLIC SCHOOLS SINKING FUND MILLAGE PROPOSAL

Shall the limitation on the amount of taxes which may be assessed against all property in Reese Public Schools, Tuscola, Saginaw and Bay Counties, Michigan, be increased by and the board of education be authorized to levy not to exceed 1.5 mills ($1.50 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation) for a period of 5 years, 2025 to 2029, inclusive, to create a sinking fund for the purchase of real estate for sites for and the construction or repair of school buildings; for school security improvements; for the acquisition or upgrading of technology; for the acquisition of student transportation vehicles; for the acquisition of parts, supplies, and equipment used for the maintenance of student transportation vehicles; for the acquisition of eligible trucks and vans used to carry parts, equipment, and personnel for or in the maintenance of school buildings; for the acquisition of parts, supplies, and equipment used to maintain such trucks and vans; and all other purposes authorized by law; the estimate of the revenue the school district will collect if the millage is approved and levied in 2025 is approximately $445,370?

VASSAR PUBLIC SCHOOLS OPERATING MILLAGE PROPOSAL

This proposal will allow the school district to levy the statutory rate of not to exceed 18 mills on all property, except principal residence and other property exempted by law, required for the school district to receive its revenue per pupil foundation allowance. 

Shall the limitation on the amount of taxes which may be assessed against all property, except principal residence and other property exempted by law, in Vassar Public Schools, Tuscola County, Michigan, be increased by 18 mills ($18.00 on each $1,000 of taxable valuation) for a period of 10 years, 2025 to 2034, inclusive, to provide funds for operating purposes; the estimate of the revenue the school district will collect if the millage is approved and levied in 2025 is approximately $1,304,000 (this millage replaces a millage that expired with the 2024 tax levy

A guide for PD’s and EC members

Part One

Now that the District Caucuses, State and even County Conventions are done for the year, maybe it’s time we step back in this “off season” and take a hard look at how we’re running the elections in those events?

Inside the TCF Center at the 2025 State Convention on Feb. 22nd.

This first of two parts will focus on the State Convention, held on February 22nd, 2025. Part Two will take a look at counting strategies for county conventions and district caucuses. The principles can also apply to certain executive and state committee elections as well. First, I’d like to make an observation: the Caucuses and Convention on February 21st and 22nd in Detroit ran reasonably well, on the surface. But there are deeper problems with these processes that date back to when I began as a precinct delegate (don’t ask, please!) and these bear careful scrutiny and must be improved. We all need to start looking at “best practices” and working on developing standards of excellence in how we conduct all of our intra-party elections.

The most glaring issue on February 22nd was that black box machines counted the votes for State Party Chair.

As many delegates protested, this goes against the majority of Republican opinion, not just in our state but nationwide – right to the Oval Office. It undermines, by example, every goal election integrity patriots are working toward in the areas of transparency and an end to black box voting. The attempt by a majority on the last cycle’s State Committee to throw a bone to us by adding a limited audit system (very similar to Jocelyn Benson’s useless “risk limiting audits”) set the worst possible example and creates a false sense of security.

With the Detroit River in the background, members of District 9’s Audit Team enjoy a brief break in the action

Elections run like the State Convention on Saturday, February 22nd are NOT inherently secure, but because the margin of victory in the chair race was not even close, it was unlikely to have been a significantly corrupted outcome. That’s because the limited audit system did permit a large number of auditors (like myself), assigned to different districts, to view the strikingly lopsided chair race results in real time. Because the auditors, in turn, shared their observations informally with auditors from adjacent districts, it quickly became clear, in an anecdotal sense, that Sen. Runestad had won convincingly. Any attempt to rig the machine vote would have been immediately obvious to dozens of auditors. But in a close race, such gross observations would not have been reliable. And keep in mind, all the Vice Chair races were not audited that day and thus most had no safeguard against election manipulation.

Furthermore, a close race could have been corrupted through exploitation of a variety of vulnerabilities inherent in Saturday’s counting system. One of the most obvious was the selection process for the district audits themselves. Remember, we had a drawing up on the stage where a paid party staffer drew district numbers from a container he alone held. A piece of paper with the number 3 was drawn, therefore District 3 was selected to audit the Chair Race. But what we didn’t know was who put those numbers inside the box? Were any observers up close to view if the box was empty at the start and the numbers were equally distributed among the 13 districts? Did challengers have access to that process from start to finish? (We didn’t see them onstage during the drawing).

The other problem was that, even if the selection of numbers was rigorously secure, the timing of the drawing – before the voting had occurred – made it inherently corruptible. That’s because, once the drawing occurred, the computer count could be altered to ensure that any improper vote shifts only affected districts that had not been selected to be audited. Once the drawing took place and the identity of the district(s) tapped to audit the chair race became known, all it would take a hypothetical bad actor to do would be to insert a pre-programmed thumb drive in the black box machines (or access them remotely via modem) and a vote-shifting algorithm could do the rest.

As in most modern vote fraud, this scenario would be the most plausible in a close race. And, to be clear, this is only a hypothetical scenario and a critique of a flawed process, not of those who carried out the count. It is not meant to cast aspersions on individual election participants. It is meant to work toward the development of an improved process, based on best practices and the elimination of vulnerabilities that could invite or facilitate fraud in future intra-party elections. I would be remiss if I did not remind seasoned delegates and educate the newly-elected that at the 2022 State Endorsement Convention in Grand Rapids, we successfully conducted a hand count audit of the machines, essentially keeping them honest, right down to the vote in every race. It went without a hitch and was run entirely by randomly-selected volunteers from among the convention’s delegates and alternates. We can further streamline and standardize that process and we can recruit committed delegates who can become experienced in hand count voting. All it takes is the will to do it.

The final results appear on the big screen at the Feb 22nd State Convention

Finally, we need to develop a system of blank ballot security. This requires:

 

1. A count of ballots prior to the event in each “style” (ballot design)

1. A written record of how many ballots were issued for each election

1. A log of how many ballots were used in the voting of each election

1. The number of unused, blank ballots remaining after the voting

1. A list of any ballots that are unaccounted for: i.e. missing or extra

1. Proper chain of custody during transport from the counting room to the storage area (in case of a recount)

Introducing proper security measures for our intra-party elections at the State Convention level will not occur without a fight. And it will be a battle fought and decided in the State Committee, but District and local level input from concerned Republicans is essential if we are to move to a culture of excellence in vote counting at our MIGOP State Conventions.

Author: Phil O’Halloran, District 9 SC member and former MIGOP Election Integrity Chairman

Next week: Part II will explore intra-party election strategies for District, County and State Committee elections