According to recent reports, a Michigan resident was given a cease-and-desist order from Democratic State Attorney General Dana Nessel last week over supposedly misleading social media posts. Allegedly, the attorney general threatened legal action over posts that made other residents aware of a change in voting locations in Ross Township.
Kerry Lynn Elieff, the woman who was hit with the cease and desist order, claimed that it wasn’t specified which posts had violated the law. Regardless, the notice demanded that she delete all “misleading or false election information” that she shared on social media. Elieff was given the letter on July 31, only a week before the state’s primary elections, where she noted that she made several posts alerting citizens of the change in voting locations.
“I was posting this and informing the residents of this, and then I put out a FOIA request. And in that FOIA request, they told me that they would give me the information by August 8th, two days after the election. So I’m making some videos and I’m making some posts with timelines. And then I get this letter from Dana Nessel, telling me to ‘cease and desist,’” Elieff said in a statement to the Daily Wire.
Elieff further explained her utter shock after being threatened with legal action for the seemingly virtuous civic duty. “I’m shocked. They are threatening me with criminal prosecution for sharing information with residents of the township. And two things that I noticed, it didn’t tell me a specific thing that I said that was misinformation, and number two, there was never any ‘if you find this an error, please contact us.’ There wasn’t an investigation. This was really a beatdown,” she said.
The order from Nessel’s office, which was signed by Criminal Trials Division Chief Robbin N. Liddell, read, “This CEASE and DESIST letter is to inform you that you are in violation of Michigan election law. It has come to the attention of our office that you have spread misleading or false election information regarding polling locations in Ross Township through on-line sites. Specifically, MCL 168.932(a) prohibits and criminalizes this conduct.”
The letter added, “The polling locations in Ross Township were legally approved and selected by the township board and clerk. Any false or misleading information you posted should be removed across all platforms. Therefore, you are hereby ordered to CEASE and DESIST the use of online platforms to continue spreading false or misleading information regarding the Ross Township polling locations. Failure to comply with this notice may result in criminal prosecution.”
While Elieff maintained that she wants to obey the law and not face prison time, she still questioned what was considered false or misleading about her posts to social media. “I don’t want to go to prison over this. What are they deeming ‘misinformation’?” she asked. “If I’m wrong, I’m willing to go back and change it and own it.”
Reportedly, Elieff received the letter just after Michigan Democratic Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s office released a document calling on citizens to report “misleading or inaccurate information regarding voting or elections in Michigan.” She indicated that she believes someone in her township reported her based on political disagreement.
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