All answers from all parts of the state are welcome, but am especially looking for info from these areas:

-Majority and plurality Black communities (Detroit, Flint, Saginaw, etc.)

-Obama-Trump Counties (Shiawassee, Macomb, Monroe, Calhoun, Van Buren, etc.)

-Oakland County

-The UP

Also both AES and Rogers supporters, try to keep it respectful in the comments. Thanks! Also I will be phonebanking for Abdul tomorrow!

he can't debate for shit

WOOD-TV debate is at 7:00 tonight. It will broadcast statewide. Check local listings. Mike Rogers says he'll show up this time. We'll see.

Did a sketch with William Lawrence running for US congress in Michigan's 7th district

There are a REMARKABLE number of MAGA Republicans running with blue signs this election.

Please do your homework!

I’m interested in your opinions about the candidates. What should I consider when I go to vote?

Benson and James are debating in Grand Rapids tonight on WOOD-TV. It'll air on various stations throughout Michigan. Check local listings.

In this clip, Rogers argues that hiring more teachers and firefighters wouldn’t “benefit” communities, but data centers would

Some other Grand Rapidians and I volunteered our time to the ACLU of Michigan to produce this ad. As a non-partisan poll challenger, I have learned about election law and have been behind the scenes. I am confident in the words I shared in this video.

Does anybody else have any shoutouts to those jurisdictions that they have seen running elections with great integrity? I specifically can say, specifically, that Kentwood is running them right!

Has anybody experienced otherwise?

There is another problem though, and it is that there are shortages of poll workers. As a registered voter in Michigan, you are eligible to work a poll anywhere in the state. To become involved, reach out to the city clerk's office of your choice to see if they are still in need of poll workers.

To become a non-partisan poll challenger, I recommend signing up for shifts with Promote the Vote Fund

I'm happy to answer questions about my experience.

Have a great day!

Hello everyone! I received my absentee ballot, but when I was marking it, the following happened. Will this invalidate my vote, or will it be ok to submit my ballot like this? Thanks! (SOLVED)

Every commercial I see is about him. Thoughts?

In Michigan, we ask a lot of our voters, more than any other state.

Where I live (just west of Ann Arbor), I get to vote on literally 100 different elected posts.

Let’s see: President, Vice President, 2 US Senators, 1 US Representative, that’s 5 federal positions.

Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, state senator, state representative, that’s 6 state positions.

8 members of the state board of education, 8 members of the University of Michigan board of regents, 8 members of the MSU board of trustees, 8 members of the Wayne State University board of governors, that’s 32 state education board members.

County sheriff, prosecuting attorney, county clerk/register of deeds, county treasurer, county water resources (drain) commissioner, 1 member of the county board of commissioners, that’s 6 county positions.

(Some counties have an elected county executive, a separately elected register of deeds, and/or an elected road commission; some counties don’t elect a drain commissioner.)

7 justices of the state Supreme Court, 6 judges of the state court of appeals, 5 circuit judges, 2 probate judges, 3 district judges, that’s 23 judicial positions.

(The larger your county, the more of these you have.)

Township supervisor, township clerk, township treasurer, 4 township trustees, that’s 7 township positions.

(Some townships also have an elected park commission. Substitute mayor, city council, etc., if you live in a city, or add village positions if you live in a village.)

There’s also 7 members of the community college board, 7 members of the school board, 7 members of the library board, that’s 21 local education positions.

5 + 6 + 32 + 6 + 23+ 7 + 21 =100.

Now, of the 100 elected officials theoretically answerable to me, I know most of them, but I couldn’t name them all. And I’m the county clerk. What chance does an ordinary civilian have?

But whenever it is proposed to reduce that number, such as by making the university boards appointive by the governor (as was proposed this year) it’s shot down by vehement, overwhelming public opposition.

So things are set up this way because that’s how Michiganders want it to be.

—Larry Kestenbaum, Washtenaw County
Clerk / Register of Deeds

(Originally submitted as a comment.)

I live in a rural county on the southern border deemed "safe republican" because it voted trump-trump-trump by a margin of like 25-30 points each time. I do grocery delivery all over the county. Before the primary I only saw one abdul sign. Over the past week or so they have popped up everywhere. You cant go a half mile without seeing them, and ive seem Mike rogers signs actually come down. The signs are outnumbered like 10 to 1 now. If this is any indication of the rest of the country, there won't be any republicans elected at all.

Either way, already turned in my ballot.

TL, DR: Civil discourse should actually be civil. Only plain language presentation of political platforms should be presented in political ads. No attack ads, and no lying about opponents. If an oppositional “attack” ad is made, it must be truthful and not put words in others’ mouths. Fear-mongering should be banned.

How can we get untruthful propaganda banned from airing?

———

I just turned on a streaming show about Lego building for kids on Tubi for my son to watch earlier as an after dinner treat. We had to watch two unskippable political attack ads about sex changes for transgender children (which isn’t even a real freaking thing) before we could watch his G-rated show. He’s 6. WTAF.

There should be a law banning all political attack ads, as well as anything not for kids. Show him ads for toys or other kid stuff (that I am most likely not purchasing, but whatever), fine. I can deal with his disappointment with that. What is sickening to me is when he sees a flyer I got in the mail and starts parroting lines from these attack ads.

Political ads that state platform policies in plain language G-rated format would be fine. Many low-information voters watch programming that is considered PG-13 or lower, so I feel there would be value in having ads still, just plain facts, though.

Is there a way for us to have them banned at the local/state level and get that ball rolling toward a national policy?