Trump administration ramps up election fraud claims

By Charles Sercombe
President Trump’s administration continues to double down on its election threats.
Two weeks ago, Trump’s Justice Department sent out notices to state election officials warning them of being charged with a crime if they knowingly allow noncitizens to vote.
During last week’s address to the nation, Trump once again claimed the 2020 presidential election was rife with fraud, without providing evidence or proof.
Trump singled out Michigan in claiming that election had been rigged.
And, more recently, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin threatened criminal charges to state election officials unless they turn over state voter rolls so his department can determine if any noncitizens are registered.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a press release in response, insisting the “Michigan elections are safe and secure,” and that “any suggestion otherwise is designed to undermine our voters’ basic rights.”
Whitmer continued: “Furthermore, the results of the 2020 election have been repeatedly reviewed, and consistently upheld, as accurate. Conspiracy theories about the 2020 elections must come to an end.”
And Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who is seeking to become the state’s next governor, also weighed in on Trump’s election fraud claims.
“Michigan’s elections are secure and safe and the results are an accurate reflection of the will of the people. This was the case in 2020, 2022, 2024, and will be again in 2026,” Benson said in a press release.
Here in Hamtramck, City Clerk Sami Elhady, who has never overseen an election or worked as a city clerk, declined to comment on the threats of criminal charges for election officials regarding noncitizens voting.
Although City Clerk Elhady declined to comment, former Hamtramck City Clerk August Gitschlag, who is now the city clerk for the City of Fraser, didn’t hold back on his thoughts about the ramifications of threatening election workers.
“Threatening election workers with prison time for honest mistakes doesn’t protect our elections,” Gitschlag told The Review.
“I think it undermines them by driving away the very people who make sure the polls open on time. These are our friends, neighbors, fellow church goers — not a conspiracy cabal trying to manipulate election results. We should be making it easier for eligible citizens to vote and easier for good people to run our elections, not harder.”
Gitschlag didn’t stop there.
He also took aim at Trump’s SAVE America Act proposal that critics say would prevent a number of people from voting, since part of it requires proof of citizenship, such as their birth certificate or passport – something most folks don’t have readily at hand.
“The SAVE America Act claims to fight voter fraud that virtually doesn’t exist. Study after study shows noncitizen voting is exceedingly rare, and existing perjury laws already make it a felony,” Gitschlag said.
“What this bill actually does is make voting harder for millions of eligible citizens. Documentary proof of citizenship sounds simple until you consider how many Americans don’t have quick access to a passport or birth certificate — especially married women who’ve changed their names, rural voters far from a local Secretary of State’s office, low-income Americans who can’t afford the fees to replace lost documents, and elderly citizens born without a hospital birth certificate.”
A number of voters here in Hamtramck, mostly from the conservative Muslim community, supported Trump for president in the 2024 election.
Former mayor Amer Ghalib, a Yemeni immigrant, encouraged metro-area Arabs to vote for Trump despite his reference to Yemenis as “terrorists.” He now works for the Trump administration.
Ghalib previously stressed to The Review that noncitizens voting here is not an issue.
“I support every lawful measure that protects the integrity of our elections,” Ghalib said. “We have not had that issue in Hamtramck, and there is no reason for residents to be concerned about it.”
The primary election throughout the state, and in Hamtramck, is Aug. 4. Hamtramck’s ballot features, among other issues and candidates, a proposal to renew a 10-year recreation tax.
Posted July 24, 2026