First chapter charter officially on the books
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 12, 2025
Contact: Kristine Christlieb
817.528.9471
Stockbridge, Mich.— Michigan Fair Elections Institute’s (MFEI) statewide effort to recruit election integrity volunteers is posting its first major victory in Oakland County.
MFEI officials have adopted a chapter model to manage their county-by-county effort to match grassroots volunteers with local election integrity opportunities. Oakland County, the second most populous county in the state, signed its chapter charter agreement on Thursday.
"Forming chapters is an important step in solidifying grassroots influence on restoring integrity to Michigan elections. It seems only fitting that one of the largest counties in the state would lead the way as our first chapter, said MFEI Founder and Chair Patrice Johnson.
Johnson has hired a director of field operations who is in charge of volunteer recruitment and who is an advocate for the county chapter system. “We’ve found organizing on the local level to have lots of advantages. That’s why I was in favor of a decentralized, chapter system,” Johnson explained.
According to Johnson, each county’s chapter will have a similar leadership structure.
“Each chapter will have a task force leader,” Johnson added. “We think developing a team of trained election integrity volunteers is the way to go. We have identified the team roles we believe are crucial for our success.”
Since its founding in 2021, MFEI has recruited more than 1300 volunteers. “We have an incredible bench of leaders and volunteers helping us,” said Johnson. “We are refining our organizational structure to more effectively deploy our volunteers and civically engage citizens.”
Johnson used her skill as an organizer to recruit more than 1000 election workers in the fall of 2024. “Just weeks before the 2024 general election, we learned there was a huge disparity between the number of party-affiliated poll workers. We engaged our network of volunteers and turned out a new pool of workers that helped address the disparity problem,” Johnson said.
Jeff Schaeper, the new task force leader in Oakland County, expressed enthusiasm for the new chapter model. “We are excited to make affiliation official and to be the first to sign the charter. Having a chapter structure allows Oakland County to focus its effort and become more effective at election integrity and public education.”
Schaeper pointed out, “Because of its population, Oakland County has important political significance. I look forward to helping MFEI have a strong presence here.”
Individuals interested in becoming an MFEI volunteer and joining a county chapter should contact jacky@mifairelections.org.
Michigan Fair Elections Institute is an educational nonprofit 501(c)3 organization dedicated to restoring fair and honest elections through education, local citizen participation, and litigation. It operates local task forces in approximately half of Michigan's 83 counties.
Kristine Christlieb serves as senior correspondent on MFEI's communications team. She publishes Trust but Verify on Substack: https://open.substack.com/pub/trustbutverifyreport/p/voter-registration-blitzkrieg?r=2haa2x&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
People like you are MFEI's boots-on-the-ground eyes and ears for election integrity. If you have a news tip related to federal, state, or local elections, contact us HERE.
Learn how We The People can win back and secure OUR Future.
Join us Thursday, March 13, at 12 PM for
the weekly Coalition Task Force Meeting
To attend this meeting, use the Registration link below . It changes weekly.
After registering, you'll receive an email with details on how to join the meeting.
Note: No representatives of the media are allowed in our meetings.
Important Notes and Disclaimers for Election Integrity Network National Working Groups and coalition calls
We operate under strict 501 (c)(4) non-profit, non-partisan guidelines. Please do not make any comments during the call or in the chat that are directly related to any campaign or candidate running for office or could be considered an endorsement or opposition of that candidate.
All calls are “off the record.” This means that no members of the media are allowed on our calls and this rule also applies to participants. No comment or presentation can be shared outside of the call without the express permission of the speaker. No recording can be made of the call without express permission from the moderator- this includes closed captioning.
We always welcome new participants but ask that all newcomers register with their own registration link. Please do not forward your personal link to another participant.
For the security of the call, if you join by phone, you may be asked to unmute and provide your name.
This meeting is for educational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice or instruction to lobby on behalf of any issue or organization.
Please donate to Michigan Fair Elections Institute
MFEI is a fiercely independent, tax-exempt 501(c)3 charity. We rely on voluntary contributions to fund our important, and sometimes costly, work. Legal claims are sometimes essential to improve the government and protect citizen rights, and they can be expensive. MFEI accepts no government funding.
Please support MFEI's investigative research, honest journalism, and litigative actions to defend We the People's inalienable rights as protected in the U.S. Constitution. Donate today to assist our educational efforts to protect the principles of individual liberty in America.
Mark your calendars to attend Election Integrity Network's outstanding National Working Groups. Consider also serving as liaison to report to the Task Force Coalition on our Thursday News@Noon meetings.
Full list of National Working Group Meetings and meeting links:
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Michigan Fair Elections Institute. Every article written by an MFEI author is generated by the author or editor alone. However, links or images embedded within the article, may have been generated by artificial intelligence.
Comments