HOWELL, Mich. – Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson is asking the attorney general’s office to investigate an aspiring state Senate candidate.
Mike Detmer of Howell spoke at a Livingston County candidate’s event last weekend and remarked that Americans should “show up armed” when asked about vote-counting concerns.
Detmer’s remarks came to a question about what can be done about the integrity of the ballot counting process. Benson said Detmer made a call to arms at the ballot box, threatening democracy.
At the event, Detmer asked an attendee if he was armed. It was part of a long speech about the second amendment, which he said, is there to protect all other rights and tells the government the people are in charge.
He went on to say the ideal is to protect rights peacefully, but in specifically addressing the chaotic vote count in Detroit he said: “So if you ask what can you do? Show up armed.”
“I think that when you’re arguing or threatening to intimidate voters with actionable specifics that law enforcement needs to investigate to ensure again that we’re doing everything we can to protect American citizens when they go to the polls in any election from any threats or fear of harm,” Benson said on CNN.
Detmer said all he’s looking for is confidence in our voting system.
“It wasn’t calling for armed rebellion. It wasn’t calling for voter suppression,” he said. “It was about restoring confidence.”
In a statement this afternoon, Benson’s office said the following:
“Tampering with ballot machines is illegal and as a court made it clear in 2020, so is voter intimidation by brandishing a firearm at a polling place.”
You are allowed to have a weapon at a polling place in Michigan as long as the location is not a school or a church.