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Pure Integrity for Michigan Elections (PIME)

Type:

Election Watchdog Group
Formation:

2020
Chair:

Patrice Johnson
Location:

Ingham County, Michigan

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Pure Integrity for Michigan Elections (PIME) is a right-of-center election integrity watchdog group established after the 2020 election. 1 Patrice Johnson is the chairwoman of PIME. 2 The group co-sponsored a 2024 debate among candidates for the Michigan Supreme Court. 3 4

PIME partnered with other organizations to investigate Detroit election administrators. They concluded that the city did not properly follow state election law. The findings led the Republican National Committee to sue the city of Detroit for corrective measures. 5 6

Background

Pure Integrity for Michigan Elections, or PIME, is a conservative-leaning election integrity watchdog group established after the 2020 election. 7 PIME works largely through volunteers. The organization convenes on alternate Saturdays in Ingham County, Michigan. The group says it is encouraging local PIME chapters. 8

Patrice Johnson is the chairwoman of PIME and the organization with which it partners, Michigan Fair Elections. 9 Johnson has said she hopes the state does not again “fall prey to the things that happened in 2020.” 10

After the 2020 presidential election, Johnson described the group’s founding as “several of us sitting around a kitchen table after the elections, and we were grousing and doubtful and skeptical and very upset. And we decided this wasn’t going to do anything. We had to do something.” She said they decided they “had better be election integrity because without that we don’t have anything.” 11

Sheri Ritchie is a representative of PIME who has testified before state legislative committees. 12 13

Policy Advocacy

Pure Integrity Michigan Elections says it has six key policy initiatives: fair and transparent elections; absentee ballots fair and free of fraud; voter identification, residency, citizenship, and clean voter rolls; authenticity and chain of custody for every ballot; ​Michigan’s rights under the U.S. Constitution and legislative’s rights and responsibilities; and the guarantee of free speech and curtailing the power of social media companies to choose whose voices are heard. 14

PIME has a legislative and outreach committee that tracks current legislation and alerts supporters about news and information. It works closely with state legislators, particularly the Michigan House Elections Committee and the Senate Elections and Ethics Committee. 15

In August 2024, PIME partnered with the group Stand Up Livingston County to sponsor a debate among candidates for the Michigan Supreme Court that featured four candidates. 16 17

In April 2024, PIME joined a coalition of several other conservative organizations under America First Works, signing a pledge to work together to harness resources and mobilize voters. 18

PIME opposed empowering the Michigan Secretary of State’s office to run a ballot tracking system. Even though the group supported the concept, it argued the system should be run by a nonpartisan committee. 19

Projects

Pure Integrity Michigan Elections partnered with the Michigan Conservative Coalition and Michigan Fair Elections for an investigation that revealed Detroit had eight times as many Democratic election inspectors as Republicans, or 2,340 Democrats and 302 Republicans as election inspectors. Under Michigan law, jurisdictions are expected to have an equal number. The Republican National Committee sued over the discrepancy. 20 21

PIME launched the Underserved Voter Outreach Team, also called UVOTE, which focuses on people of faith, gun owners and veterans who are often alienated from the Left. 22

References

  1. “About.” Pure Integrity Michigan Elections. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://www.pureintegritymichiganelections.org/about
  2. Kittle, M.D. “Conservatives Fed Up With Democrats’ Get-Out-The-Vote Machine Build Their Own In Battleground States.” The Federalist. March 8, 2024. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://thefederalist.com/2024/03/08/conservatives-fed-up-with-democrats-get-out-the-vote-machine-build-their-own-in-battleground-states/
  3. Washburn, Logan. “Michigan Supreme Court Candidates Sound Off On Election Officials’ ‘Overreach’ At Debate.” The Federalist. August 13, 2024. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://thefederalist.com/2024/08/13/michigan-supreme-court-candidates-sound-off-on-election-officials-overreach-at-debate/
  4. “Michigan Supreme Court Justice Candidates Seeking Nomination.” Pure Integrity Michigan Elections. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://www.pureintegritymichiganelections.org/
  5. Johnson, Patrice. “: People – not corrupt politicians – should decide elections.” The Center Square. August 23, 2024. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://www.thecentersquare.com/opinion/article_dd5115dc-6182-11ef-b701-bb1c8f1cc9a6.html
  6. Mittelstadt, Natalia. “City of Detroit hired 2,000+ more Dem poll workers than GOP in 2024 primary, violating state law.” Just the News. August 20, 2024. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/detroit-hired-2000-more-dem-poll-workers-republican-2024-primary-contrary
  7. “About.” Pure Integrity Michigan Elections. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://www.pureintegritymichiganelections.org/about
  8. “About.” Pure Integrity Michigan Elections. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://www.pureintegritymichiganelections.org/about
  9. [1] Kittle, M.D. “Conservatives Fed Up With Democrats’ Get-Out-The-Vote Machine Build Their Own In Battleground States.” The Federalist. March 8, 2024. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://thefederalist.com/2024/03/08/conservatives-fed-up-with-democrats-get-out-the-vote-machine-build-their-own-in-battleground-states/
  10. Kittle, M.D. “Conservatives Fed Up With Democrats’ Get-Out-The-Vote Machine Build Their Own In Battleground States.” The Federalist. March 8, 2024. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://thefederalist.com/2024/03/08/conservatives-fed-up-with-democrats-get-out-the-vote-machine-build-their-own-in-battleground-states/
  11. Kittle, M.D. “Conservatives Fed Up With Democrats’ Get-Out-The-Vote Machine Build Their Own In Battleground States.” The Federalist. March 8, 2024. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://thefederalist.com/2024/03/08/conservatives-fed-up-with-democrats-get-out-the-vote-machine-build-their-own-in-battleground-states/
  12. [1] Guiney, Lily. “Senate committee OKs bill to create online tracking system for absentee voting.” Michigan Advance. May 26, 2023. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://michiganadvance.com/2023/05/26/senate-committee-oks-bill-to-create-online-tracking-system-for-absentee-voting/
  13. Davidson, Kyle. “Lawmakers push forward on package addressing deepfakes in political ads.” News From The States. October 17, 2023. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/lawmakers-push-forward-package-addressing-deepfakes-political-ads
  14. “About.” Pure Integrity Michigan Elections. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://www.pureintegritymichiganelections.org/about
  15. “About.” Pure Integrity Michigan Elections. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://www.pureintegritymichiganelections.org/about
  16. Washburn, Logan. “Michigan Supreme Court Candidates Sound Off On Election Officials’ ‘Overreach’ At Debate.” The Federalist. August 13, 2024. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://thefederalist.com/2024/08/13/michigan-supreme-court-candidates-sound-off-on-election-officials-overreach-at-debate/
  17. “Michigan Supreme Court Justice Candidates Seeking Nomination.” Pure Integrity Michigan Elections. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://www.pureintegritymichiganelections.org/
  18. Press Release. “America First Movement Organizations Unite Around Historic Pledge.” April 4, 2024. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://americafirstworks.com/2024/04/america-first-movement-organizations-unite-around-historic-pledge/
  19. Guiney, Lily. “Senate committee OKs bill to create online tracking system for absentee voting.” Michigan Advance. May 26, 2023. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://michiganadvance.com/2023/05/26/senate-committee-oks-bill-to-create-online-tracking-system-for-absentee-voting/
  20. Johnson, Patrice. “: People – not corrupt politicians – should decide elections.” The Center Square. August 23, 2024. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://www.thecentersquare.com/opinion/article_dd5115dc-6182-11ef-b701-bb1c8f1cc9a6.html
  21. Mittelstadt, Natalia. “City of Detroit hired 2,000+ more Dem poll workers than GOP in 2024 primary, violating state law.” Just the News. August 20, 2024. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/detroit-hired-2000-more-dem-poll-workers-republican-2024-primary-contrary
  22. Kittle, M.D. “Conservatives Fed Up With Democrats’ Get-Out-The-Vote Machine Build Their Own In Battleground States.” The Federalist. March 8, 2024. Accessed September 4, 2024. https://thefederalist.com/2024/03/08/conservatives-fed-up-with-democrats-get-out-the-vote-machine-build-their-own-in-battleground-states/
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