What are Michigan Dems hiding?

We kick off this week’s newsletter with a dispatch from Deyar Jamil, who is volunteering with the Huwaida Arraf for UMich Regent campaign.

Many of our readers are probably familiar with Arraf. I interviewed her in 2022 when she was running for Congress, if you’d like to learn more about her life and work.

What Is the Michigan Democratic Party Hiding from Huwaida Arraf?

By Deyar Jamil

Huwaida Arraf is a federal civil rights attorney who has fought for Michiganders affected by the Flint Water Crisis, systemic violence, and voter disenfranchisement. She is a Palestinian American graduate of the University of Michigan. In July, students from UMich asked her to run for the Board of Regents because they wanted a representative who would listen, not slander, mock or attack them as current regents had been doing for the past year.

The Michigan Democratic Party held its Nominating Convention on August 24, 2024. There was only one contested nomination: the University of Michigan Board of Regents. Three candidates ran for two nominations. Two of them were Democratic insiders and the other was Huwaida. Huwaida’s supporters filled the convention hall with their maize and blue t-shirts and their infectious energy. The response was overwhelmingly positive with comments about how disappointed Democrats were in UM’s handling of peaceful protests and its refusal to engage with students. An African American delegate proudly stated, “if the students are behind Huwaida, that’s a good sign and I’m voting for her.”

The convention began at 8:00 AM and credentialing of delegates closed before nominations began at 3:00 PM. Party officials announced that 1,248 delegates were credentialed to vote. Voting was conducted via Voatz application and closed at 4:40 PM. Despite multiple requests, Huwaida and her staff were not permitted to observe the vote tabulation backstage while other candidates, their team members and families were all welcomed. No results were announced for several hours. Most delegates had left by early evening while hundreds of Huwaida supporters waited patiently and peacefully. Finally, after 7:30 PM, dozens of uniformed police officers began filling the convention hall, and an announcement was made that the results would soon be announced. A MDP official got up to the mic and announced that Huwaida had come in last place. There was no explanation of how votes were tallied and then an announcement was made that everyone must leave.

Huwaida’s campaign immediately requested data relating to the vote tabulation, which was dependent on a geographic and population-based weighted formula applied after the voting was completed. MDP produced altered data from the Voatz application, which revealed multiple irregularities, including 174 more individual voters recorded than the 1,248 announced during the Nominating Convention; and incorrect county and congressional district information for several voters, which skew the weighted outcome. Huwaida’s campaign filed an appeal to the MDP requesting the raw and unedited Voatz data file that was turned over to the MDP when voting closed, including time, geolocation, name, district, and county for each vote cast. MDP officials have not responded.

Huwaida’s campaign has contacted the Michigan Democratic Party to express its concerns about the process and report the numerous errors that it found in the data supplied by the MDP. The Campaign has indicated its desire to work with the MDP to address its concerns and its readiness to pursue legal action if these concerns are not addressed promptly and transparently by MDP officials. MDP officials have not responded.

Huwaida commented: “Hundreds of University of Michigan students and their friends and families showed up to participate in the Michigan Democratic Party Nominating Convention this past weekend, comprising an overwhelming majority of the delegates at the convention. They brought with them spirit, energy, and a desire to meaningfully engage in the democratic process with the hopes of being heard. These students should have been enthusiastically welcomed by the Party. Instead, they left feeling disillusioned by a flawed process and lack of transparency that seemingly undermined their vote. The MDP has a chance to rectify this and I hope they do.”

Portland Divestment Vote

Big news out of Maine, where Portland’s city council just unanimously voted to divest all funds from companies complicit in Israel’s human rights violations.

Portland is the fourth city to pass such a resolution and the first to do so on the east coast. The measure was introduced by Councilor April Fournier and it targets over 80 companies including Boeing, Chevron, General Dynamics and Volvo.

Portland Mayor Mark Dion, a former police officer, reiterated the usual stuff about Israel having the right to defend itself and Hamas being bad, but he did indicate that he understood and supported the effort.

“It’s about sending a message to our government that it’s time to stand up,” said Dion.

The resolution was sponsored by the Maine Coalition for Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace Maine.

“This conscientious group of city councilors listened to the Maine Coalition for Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace Maine and individuals/organizations across the state who have been demanding an end to the U.S. funding of Israel’s genocide in Palestine,” said Maine Coalition for Palestine in a statement.

“Multiple polls have shown the people do NOT support our tax dollars funding Israel’s crimes,” it continued. “Maine’s representatives have refused to listen to their constituents demands and continue voting for more arms shipments…Thank you to Portland City Council for standing on the right side of history.”

“As Jews in Portland, we have immense gratitude for the Portland City Council’s resolution to divest municipal funds from the Israeli government and corporations complicit in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians,” said Sarah Snyder of Maine’s JVP chapter.

In January Portland’s City Council unanimously passed a resolution calling for permanent ceasefire in Gaza.