Michigan leaders join national bipartisan effort to push back against attacks on the election system

LANSING, Mich. — Former Michigan governors and elected officials from both parties are joining a wider effort to combat misinformation and attacks on voting and ballot-counting in several swing states ahead of the fast-approaching presidential election. The Democracy Defense Project also includes former officials from a number of states where then-President Donald Trump tried to overturn his election loss in 2020, including Georgia. During Tuesday’s debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump again cast doubt on the 2020 election results, even though his campaign lost dozens of court cases, his own attorney general said there was no evidence of widespread fraud, and reviews, recounts and audits in the battleground states where he disputed his loss — including Michigan — all confirmed Biden’s win. “I do think it’s a crushing blow for the Republican nominee.” Engler, who served as governor from 1991 to 2003, shared a similar sentiment, saying Trump “lost the election, he did not serve as president and he will not serve as president for one day in this four-year term.” “That’s over. Even so, some still plan to support him this year, said the group’s national spokesperson, Brian Jones, adding they “still believe in the importance of our election system and that the 2020 election was rightly decided.” The group is operating in eight states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.