MichMash: State leaders fight election misinformation with new Democracy Defense Project branch

Cheyna Roth and Alethia Kasben sat down with former Michigan officials John Engler and John Cherry to discuss the group’s efforts to fight election falsehoods.

Empty voting booths

Election integrity has the spotlight as the presidential election takes center stage in these last five weeks of the campaign. MichMash host Cheyna Roth and Gongwer News Service’s Alethia Kasben sit down with former Gov. John Engler and former Lt. Gov. John Cherry to discuss the launch of the Democracy Defense Project in Michigan and how they aim to rebuild confidence in our nation’s electoral process. 

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In this episode:

  • First Michigan House voting session since the end of June
  • The Democracy Defense Project plan to combat election misinformation
  • Election integrity and the need to bolster voter confidence

Engler and Cherry have joined a broader effort to combat misinformation and attacks related to election security and ballot-counting in swing states ahead of November’s general election.

If the 2024 election is like the 2020 election, the results most likely won’t be delivered the night of Election Day. Cherry says part of the goal of the new Democracy Defense Project branch is to calm Michigan voters who may be upset about that and to encourage their trust in the process.

“In Michigan, the counting is straight forward. We’re a reactive organization. So I mean, part of our job is to look at what kind of comments are being put in front of Michigan citizens and, and say, ‘Hey, look, that’s just not accurate,’ or, you know, it doesn’t deserve that kind of response,” he said. “You know, it’s not just a matter of being critical or being disappointed.”

In regard to building confidence in the electoral contest all together, Engler said the best solution is to communicate with the public.

“We’re talking to folks like you. You’ve got audiences that are out there. And when you’re hearing from us through your — more importantly, your listeners are hearing from us. I mean, we’re people who’ve been through collectively, a lot of elections.” said Engler.

He said that communication from trusted folks with credible histories can combat against the misinformation we are seeing on social media.  

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Author

  • Hernz Laguerre
    Hernz Laguerre Jr. is a Multimedia Journalist at 101.9 WDET. He is one of the co-host for "Detroit Evening Report," one of the weekend anchors for "Weekend Edition," the producer for our political podcast, "MichMash," and reports on arts, culture and politics.