FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News from Progress Michigan and We Are the People
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Contact: Jessica Tramontana, 517.974.6302, jtramontana@progressmichigan.org | Roger Kerson, 734.645.0535, roger@rkcommunications.net
More than 14,000 Citizens Join Call for Bolger’s Resignation
Lansing – We Are the People, Michigan (WATP) and Progress Michigan announced today they have filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking the complete report by the Michigan State Police on potential election fraud committed by House Speaker Jase Bolger (R-Galesburg) and Rep. Roy Schmidt (R-Grand Rapids).
“We have a right to know all the facts,” said Todd Cook, state director of We Are the People Michigan, a statewide coalition of students, seniors and working families. “Every time another shoe drops in this scandal, it’s another embarrassment to the state of Michigan. Let’s find out what happened, and hold Lansing politicians accountable.”
“Sunshine is the best disinfectant, and it’s the only way we’re going to clean up the mess that was created by Jase Bolger and Roy Schmidt,” said Zack Pohl, Executive Director of Progress Michigan. “The people of Michigan have a right to know the whole story behind this election fraud scheme, so Bolger and Schmidt can be held accountable for their shameful actions.”
More than 14,000 citizens, Pohl said, have now signed a petition circulated by WATP, Progress Michigan and the Michigan AFL-CIO, calling for Bolger’s resignation.
Newspaper editorials around the state have also sharply criticized Bolger’s actions. After convincing Schmidt to switch parties at the last minute, Bolger quarterbacked an effort to recruit and file false papers for a phony Democratic candidate who agreed not to campaign, attempting to create a Soviet-style uncontested election.
The results of the Michigan State Police investigation are the basis for a July 17th report by Kent County Prosecutor William Forsyth. “This scheme by Rep. Schmidt and Speaker Bolger,” Forsyth found, “was clearly designed to undermine the election and to perpetrate a ‘fraud’ on the electorate.”
Forsyth referred his findings to Secretary of State Ruth Johnson, who is investigating possible violations of Michigan campaign finance law.
Background
July 17 Press Release, Kent County Prosecuting Attorney William Forsyth,
http://www.freep.com/assets/freep/pdf/C4192150717.pdf
MLive.com, July 27: Secretary of State Ruth Johnson wants Jase Bolger, Roy Schmidt to answer election fraud complaint
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