Michigan’s Attorney General and the Secretary of State said Thursday they are investigating a “racist” robocall targeting African-American communities in Detroit. The recorded message discourages voting by mail—claiming that by doing so, information will be shared with law enforcement, and credit card companies.
In the recording, the caller claims to be from Project 1599, which was founded by conservative activists Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman. They denied involvement in the robocall.
The caller says if people vote by mail, their personal information will be part of a public database that police can use to track down old warrants and that credit card companies can use to collect outstanding debt
It was not known how many people were targeted with the call, which urges listeners to not give private information “to the man.”
Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, issued this statement:
“This is an unconscionable, indefensible, blatant attempt to lie to citizens about their right to vote, the call preys on voters’ fear and mistrust of the criminal justice system —and twists it into a fabricated threat in order to discourage people from voting.”
Democratic Attorney General Dana Nessel said her office was working to find the “bad actors” behind the call. The state’s robocall team was alerting counterparts across the country.
Michigan — a battleground state that President Donald Trump narrowly won in 2016 in part due to less turnout for Hillary Clinton in heavily Democratic Detroit — allows voters to cast an absentee ballot for any reason, either by mailing it in, dropping it off or filling one out at a clerk’s office. Benson said voting absentee, including by mail, does not expose personal information any more than simply registering to vote does.