The Detroit Chapter of the NAACP is urging city residents to be vigilant in the face of any potential voter intimidation.
The activities of militia groups in the state and the alleged terrorist plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer – have raised concerns and rumors about safety at the polls.
Detroit NAACP President Reverend Wendell Anthony says any voter intimidation in the city will not be tolerated.
“These threats of folks coming into places like Detroit, possibly. brandishing armed weapons at polling places is unacceptable.”
Anthony says the NAACP will have people at the polls monitoring for threats.
“We will not give up the right for our vote. These obstacles make us even more determined to take our soles to the polls and vote like our lives depend upon it. Because quite frankly, they do.”
NAACP General Counsel Chui Karega says poll watchers and voters shouldn’t hesitate to contact the group.
“We have eyes and we have ears. And we will be at virtually every polling place in the city in this county in the state, making sure that if anything happens, anything goes wrong. Anybody starts brandishing a weapon. We will be there.”
Karega says voter intimidation doesn’t have to be violent. He says harassment and threats to call police are coercive acts.
Earlier this month, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel charged two Republican operatives with election intimidation over misleading robo-calls allegedly intended to suppress the vote in the traditional Democratic stronghold of Detroit.
