Michigan County Ordered to Pay $10K to Election Integrity Group for FOIA Practices
It took over one year of wrangling and a lawsuit, but the Michigan Grassroots Alliance (MGA), an election integrity watchdog group, has finally obtained a segment of video surveillance tape that may serve as crucial evidence in an investigation of the handling of voting results on election night in 2022 by some county election officials.
In a properly functioning Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, obtaining the tape should have taken about two weeks. However, it took nearly 13 months for MGA to secure it.
Finally, on Sept. 7, the matter was settled in a Wayne County Circuit Court, but not before the group’s representative, Patrick Colbeck, faced a bureaucratic runaround.
Mr. Colbeck emphasized the urgency of election integrity investigations, stating, “In order for a court to hold those responsible for election fraud accountable for their actions, under Michigan law, legal action must be taken within 30 days of the election.”
Unlawful and unreasonable delays in the process allow “those intent upon election fraud to act with relative impunity” and no fear of consequences, he said.
Stonewalled
According to MGA’s complaint, Mr. Colbeck’s ordeal began on Aug. 12, 2022, with his filing of a simple FOIA request for 26 hours of video surveillance tape of the entrance to the Wayne County clerk’s office.
The tape segment captures the comings and goings of individuals during a portion of the day of the Aug. 2 primary and a part of Aug. 3, 2022.
Michigan’s largest city, Detroit, is the Wayne County seat. For decades, the city and county—both Democrat strongholds—have been the scene of election night drama. Their late-coming results often determine the outcome of elections, many times reversing the Republicans’ big outstate lead.
Under Michigan’s FOIA statute, a government body has five days to respond to a citizen’s request for information. If necessary, the government has the option of notifying the requester of the need for a ten-business-day extension.
According to the complaint, Wayne County informed Mr. Colbeck on Oct. 5, 2022, that it would grant his request for the video tape and that a deposit of $2,495 would be required, payable to the county by “check or money order.”
The Oct. 5 communication also included an estimate of the fees and that it would take approximately 126.5 man-hours to comply with Mr. Colbeck’s request.
On Nov. 15, Mr. Colbeck paid the deposit by check.
After many inquiries by Mr. Colbeck, on Dec. 6, Wayne County informed him that it had received his check but could not accept it as it was not a payment by “guaranteed funds.”
According to MGA’s attorney, Thomas Lambert, the summary of the FOIA policy of the County of Wayne does not mention that payment must be made by “guaranteed funds,” nor had Mr. Colbeck ever been required to pay for any of his many previous FOIA requests to the county with such funds.
After multiple attempts to get clarification of the county’s payment policy, on Dec. 20, 2022, Mr. Colbeck mailed in a cashier’s check for his deposit in the amount of $2,495.
Following numerous inquiries by Mr. Colbeck about the status of his FOIA request, on Feb. 1, 2023, the county informed him that the requested “video is in the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office Evidence Submission Portal queue.”
Pay Up!
The county then demanded full payment ($4,998.58) “before the redacted video is provided.”
MGA’s complaint cited the Michigan law that limits the amount of payment to 50 percent of the total cost until the records are turned over.
As of the time of the filing of its complaint, MGA had not been provided with any part of the videotape, a good faith estimate of how many days it would be before it could expect the video to be delivered, any reason for its high cost, and no explanation from the county for the delays and redactions.
On May 5, 2023, a frustrated Mr. Colbeck filed a complaint in the 3rd Circuit Court for Wayne County alleging the wrongful denial of his request through the county’s failure to produce the requested videotape or invoke exemptions.
He also alleged one count of charging a wrongful FOIA fee, contending that Wayne County “arbitrarily and capriciously” violated the FOIA statute and its own policies.
To avoid further litigation and possible additional fines and penalties, on Sept. 7, 2023, Wayne County furnished Mr. Colbeck with an unredacted copy of the requested video footage and agreed to pay MGA ten thousand dollars within 30 days, without an admission of any wrongdoing.
As part of the settlement, the county refunded Mr. Colbeck’s deposit and was ordered by Circuit Judge Ed
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