Black state lawmakers in Michigan are calling on the state’s attorney general and a local county prosecutor to investigate the congressional campaign of Tom Barrett, a Republican, for an ad in a Black-owned newspaper that incorrectly listed Election Day as Nov. 6.
The complaint from the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus, filed on Sunday, accuses the campaign of Mr. Barrett, who is running for the seat being vacated by Representative Elissa Slotkin, of intentionally providing false information to disenfranchise Black voters. Election Day is Nov. 5.
Mr. Barrett’s campaign has strongly denied the allegation and characterized it as a one-time “proofing error” that is inconsistent with the campaign’s other advertisements aimed at Black voters.
“On Nov. 6 vote for Tom Barrett” reads the information box at the center of the full-page advertisement, which appeared in the Oct. 2 issue of The Michigan Bulletin, a Black-owned alternative weekly that has published in the Lansing area for 30 years. At the bottom of the page, the disclaimer “Paid for by Tom Barrett for Congress” appears.
As of Sunday, more than a week after publication, the campaign had yet to publish a correction. A representative said that The Bulletin’s publisher notified the campaign about the error over the weekend and that a corrected version of the ad would run in the next issue.
“Our campaign has been committed to outreach to the Black community and Black leaders,” Jason C. Roe, a spokesman for Mr. Barrett’s campaign, said. “The goal is to earn more support from Black voters, and this was nothing but a proofing error.”
Mr. Roe noted that the campaign sent mailers to Black households on Oct. 2 and Oct. 9 that include the correct election date.
The complaint from the state Black caucus notes that a similar advertisement — but with the correct election date — appeared in an Oct. 9 issue of City Pulse, another local weekly publication, which does not have Black owners.
Chris Jackson, the executive director of the Black caucus, said that the group learned about the advertisement after readers shared photos of it with their elected officials.
“At best, Tom Barrett and his campaign have committed a shocking oversight which will undoubtedly lead to confusion by Black voters in Lansing — in part because they still do not appear to have made any attempt to correct the record,” reads the complaint, which was signed by the chairwoman and vice chairwoman of the Black caucus. “And, at worst, this ad could be part of an intentional strategy to ‘deter’ Black voters by deceiving them into showing up to vote on the day after the 2024 election.”
In Michigan, it is a felony to use “bribery, menace, or other corrupt means or device,” such as intentionally spreading false information about the election process, to “deter” an individual from voting.
“If Tom Barrett and Tom Barrett for Congress intentionally spread election misinformation to disenfranchise Black voters, they could be guilty of a felony and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law,” the complaint reads.
Mr. Barrett is running against Curtis Hertel Jr., a Democratic former state senator who represented the Lansing area. Ms. Slotkin, a Democrat, is running against Mike Rogers, a former Republican congressman, for an open Senate seat.
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