By Rev. Dr. Wendell Anthony
Today, the Third Judicial Court for the county of Wayne in the state of Michigan threw out the non- sensical, frivolous lawsuit filed by Republican candidate for Michigan Secretary of State Kristina Karamo, Philip O’Halloran, and their cohorts. The court ruled that, “a delay would impact approximately 60,000 absentee ballots that have been returned to the city of Detroit Clerk’s office by the time the November 3, 2022 injunctive hearing occurred. The prejudice to the city of Detroit and by extension the voters who have submitted absentee ballots is enormous. Tens of thousands of city of Detroit voters would be disenfranchised unless the doctrine of laches is applied in this eleventh hour challenge. Plaintiffs sat on their hands for months before bringing a complaint forward. Basically this is unacceptable and cannot be permitted.”
Thank God there still is some sanity in an America that seems to have been turned upside down. This nonsense brought forward by the Karamo camp was intended to delay, intimidate, and prevent Michigan’s largest city from casting legal ballots for the candidates of their choice. This strategy of delay, deny, and suppress is used nationally as we witness:
• Armed vigilantes patrolling drop boxes to intimidate voters.
• Voter suppression bills numbering over 400 to prevent voting of minorities, women, seniors, and students.
• Redistricting of various congressional districts to make it harder for African American voter representation.
• Using a bogus voter policing unit to arrest persons who have been told they have a right to vote and who may be ex-offenders.
• Threats to election officials, secretaries of state, and volunteers to prevent them from counting the vote.
America must be better than this. This should serve as an incentive to vote rather than accepting any intimidation to prevent your vote. We knew from day one, this lawsuit was simply an exercise of a solution in search of a problem. The court did not fall for this kind of flim-flam. Those who filed this judicial frivolity should be sanctioned. The taxpayers of Wayne County should not have to pay for their political gamesmanship. When one thinks of this political debacle, words of the late Marvin Gaye start dancing in our head, “it makes me wanna holler and throw up both of my hands.” Many of us simply get a case of the Inner City Blues. On Tuesday, November 8, don’t throw up your hands. Use your hands when you Take Your Soles To The Polls And Vote like your life depends upon it because quite
frankly, it does.”