Midterm Countdown: The economy’s role in the election & debunking Detroit ballot count myths

Thank you for joining us as we cap off another busy week of all things people, power and politics. This is The Pulse and I'm Jessica Dupnak. Before we get into the show tonight, we want to remind you that we have a special edition of The Pulse coming up Sunday at 6.30. We're making sure you're ready to vote as election day kicks off. And from 7 to 10 on Fox Local after that, we're breaking down the big issues and storylines ahead of the race. Again, that's all Sunday on Fox 2 and Fox Local. But we have a lot to get to tonight as well. We're going inside the economy with Oakland University Associate Professor of Management Michael Greiner. The sky-high costs we're all paying are expected to play a huge role in this year's election. Professor Greiner takes a look at where things stand and what we can expect. And a Fox 2 reality check. There's a lot of false claims about the vote counting process in Detroit. You've probably heard them over the years. Matt Friedman with Detroit Votes debunks these myths. We start once again, though, in the Middle East, where all eyes are on a situation, a very tense one between the U.S. and Iran. We told you yesterday how the U.S. is reportedly warning allies in the Middle East it could start strikes back up after Tuesday's election and warn of possible Iranian retaliation. This, says Iranian state media, reports a super tanker carrying more than two million barrels of oil hit a mine and caught fire while using an unauthorized route We spoke with retired Naval Intelligence Commander, Dr. Paul Chabot, about where things stand. There have been some very strong indicators that U.S. military action is going to occur shortly. What do I mean by that? Admiral Cooper, who is the CENTCOM commander, which means he controls all forces, not just Navy, but all branches within that operational area where our forces are. Right now, we have about 50,000 within the Gulf region. The last time Admiral Cooper met with the president was back in July. Yesterday, he met at the White House with the war secretary and others. That really does signify that there is action and significant planning coming forward, probably shortly after the election. Also, we do have a third carrier strike group, which is steaming towards that region. We'll get there sometime maybe mid-November. Oh, and we all know how much the war has driven up those gas prices. Here's where things stand now, according to GasBuddy.com. The U.S. average is 418. Michigan's much higher, sitting at 456. And Metro Detroit is higher still at 468 a gallon. Now to the race for Senate, where two former rivals will actually share the stage together on Sunday. Democratic nominee Dr. Abdul El-Sayed will campaign with the person he beat in the primary, Congresswoman Haley Stevens. This is happening at a get out the vote rally at a Detroit church. El-Sayed was on stage with Senator Alyssa Slotkin yesterday and hit the stage in Warren today, while Republican Mike Rogers campaigned with South Carolina Senator Tim Tim Scott in West Michigan. So with your help, we will be the first state to beat the Democrat Socialist of America movement that is trying to come to this state and say this will be their first victory. We will be the ones to stop that. And we will stand up on November and say this is we want a victory for faith and family and freedom and the future of this country. While folks try... To divide us based on differences. Thank you. The question that ultimately we are trying to answer is whether or not we as a country have the courage to stand up for the Constitution that guarantees us the right to pray as we choose to pray, or not pray at all. Oh! We as a country are willing to adhere to that basic foundational principle and have the courage to stand up for that document. And don't forget to go to fox2detroit.com slash election or scan the QR code on the bottom right of your screen. That page has not only all of our coverage leading up to election day, but also information on everything from the big races to the ballot proposals you're deciding on. Fox 2 is your home for all things politics, and we want to make sure you're informed before you vote. Well, that is just scratching the surface, so let's pick up the pace and run through some of our other big stories we're on top of tonight. A federal appeals court shoots down the Trump administration's latest push to force California to separate some 20,000 ballots from voters the DOJ believes are not U.S. citizens. According to Politico, the majority believes the Trump administration's request steps on the state's authority to administer elections and could also break a 1993 law limiting systemic changes to voting rolls 90 days before the vote. The Trump administration. made investigating claims of non-citizens voting a key issue, even though data shows it's exceedingly rare. And did you hear about this one? There's an investigation happening right now in Alaska over an alleged scheme to confuse voters by putting a Senate candidate on the ballot with the same name as the Republican incumbent. Senator Dan Sullivan serves Alaska right now, but faced another candidate named Dan Sullivan in the primary. This has been under investigation for several months, but New York Times reporting showed the Democratic candidate's campaign appeared to be involved in recruiting that second Dan Sullivan. The top federal prosecutor says a criminal investigation is underway, but it's important to note the act of so-called ballot stacking is not illegal under any federal federal or state law. And it was done by both parties in the 2022 and 2020 elections. Let's go inside the economy now, because it's playing a huge role in this year's election. Those high prices you're paying at the gas pump cause soaring costs everywhere else. And today, Wall Street had its worst day since June. But we also got the news earlier this week from the Feds, saying they aren't raising their key interest rates, at least for now. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh with these words about where things stand. Economic activity is expanding at a strong pace. While uncertainty remains, owing in part to geopolitical developments, domestic spending has been resilient, productivity growth is strong, and capital investment robust. Job gains have kept pace with the workforce, and the unemployment rate has changed little, but inflation remains elevated. Joining us now to go inside the economy a little bit further now is Oakland University Associate Professor of Management, Michael Greiner. Thank you. Thanks for having me. All right. Well, let's get right into this. Let's talk about the economy and how it's going to affect the election. That's just four days away. Yeah. You know, you look at those gas prices alone. It is very sobering. Yeah, it sure is. And that's the number one issue that voters are concerned about right now. You know, you're seeing it in poll after poll and it's affordability. And that's really driven by gas prices in large part. You drive down 75, my commute here to Fox 2, all you see is the billboards, right, of course. And a lot of them have to do groceries and gas prices. That isn't an accident. Both candidates are targeting the economy. Yeah, they have to because that's what people are concerned about. And people, it's one of those things that people can't escape. There are so many of these issues that are kind of floating out there that are kind of theoretical to people. But when you're going into the grocery store and seeing prices elevated and you go to fill up your gas tank and it's way higher than yours. We're used to. That makes a big difference. And, you know, some people, you know, you vote with your pocketbook. That's what they always say, right? You make kind of these maybe knee-jerk decisions before you head to the polls. Well, I'm going to switch it up and go with this person. I'm going to switch it up. When you're sitting there with the ballot in your hand and you're in the, you know, the cubicle there, what is really going to trigger you maybe one way or the other? Well, as I say, I think that it's really going to, you know, really driven by affordability. And I mean, this is a real issue. You know, one thing that we've seen in the data right now is that actually we've seen a decline in real wages. And what that means is that the wages basically aren't keeping up with the increases in prices as a result of inflation. So as a result of that, people actually have less spending power. This is not something people are imagining. You know, sometimes we try to make it out seem like, you know, oh, you know, people might not recognize the fact. In fact, their wages are also going up. In this case, they actually are losing spending power. And so that's it. Not only are prices higher, your wages just aren't keeping up. They are, yeah. And that is real tangible numbers that show that. It is, yes. And talk a little bit about, we led the pulse here tonight talking about those potential strikes in Iran following the election. I can't imagine that would be a good thing here at home for gas prices among a lot of other things. Can you pull that out or pull it apart for us a little bit? Absolutely. Well, we saw again today a big increase in the price of oil as a result of that. And it's largely driven by the concerns over what's going to be going on in the Middle East. You know, this is really what's been driving the oil prices. And we can't also underestimate the fact that the... The problem that we're dealing with at the gas pump is actually more than just what's going on in the Middle East. What's going on in Ukraine also is having an impact because what the Ukrainians have discovered is that they can be very effective in impacting the Russian economy by essentially attacking their oil infrastructure. Russia is a huge producer of oil and gas. And so as a result of that, there's been a big increase in the difference between the price of the oil that the oil companies are getting and the price of the refined products that actually we can put into our vehicles. You know, you talk around the dinner table, whether it's family, friends, you know, I expect to see more people upset about the price of things vocally, but I've sort of noticed that people. I feel like they're thinking this is our new normal. Is it our new normal? Are these the prices that we're stuck with forever? Well, I'll tell you something. That's actually a big concern among economists because of the fact that what happens is people start to develop these expectations, you know, that inflation is going to continue. And once that starts to happen, then. People start to demand higher wages, expecting that they're going to have to be paying higher prices for goods down the pike. So as a result of that, you start to get this baked into the process, and you get this cycle where you see prices increasing more and more. And you kind of get into that situation we saw in the 1970s with stagflation. So we're very concerned about that. And we've actually seen an increase in the expectations for long-term inflation among people. And as we're kind of wrapping up here, what's the advice? The advice that you give to people going to the polls, obviously you're not going to say who to vote for, but what do you want people to remember in terms of context of the current economy and sort of moving forward in the months and weeks ahead when they pick their candidates? Well, I'll say one thing, and I've been very impressed talking with a lot of voters and my students and just residents, that they really have come to understand the impact that a lot of the policies we're seeing coming out of Washington have actually really directly impacted these prices. Wow. The fact that we've seen these big increases in oil and gas are largely driven by what's going on in the Middle East and the war there. The increases in prices that we're seeing, for example, in many of the other products are driven by the tariffs which were imposed from Washington as well. So I think that that's gonna have a huge impact on the election as a result of that. Yeah, fantastic insight. We have some big decisions to make around here. Sure. All right, Dr. Michael Greiner, thank you so much. Thanks for having me. We are following up on a story we brought to you earlier this week. A Canadian woman living in Michigan says she was mistakenly sent a voter registration card. It happened twice. We're hearing from her, plus how the Secretary of State's office is responding next on The Pulse. Back now on The Pulse, looking at all things people, power, and politics, here with her story about mistakenly receiving a voter registration card, Jacqueline Seymour. She is a Canadian-American who lives in Metro Detroit. Jacqueline, thanks for being with us tonight. Thanks for having me. And just to kind of clarify, you are a Canadian citizen. Right. You've been living in the U.S. since 1993. Right. And talk a little bit about what happened. So you've renewed your license multiple times since you've been here. You've been here a minute. This most recent time, which was about a year ago, you went to the Secretary of State in Oakland County. Describe that interaction a little bit because it stuck out to you. Yeah, because I booked my appointment and I went into the appointment and when I got up, when I got called up, the gal that was registering me asked me how I was living here. She said, how are you living here? And it kind of struck me and I said, I don't understand the question. And she said, well, you're obviously not American. Do you have a green card? And I said, yeah, I do. Do you have it with you? And I said, no, because I keep it protected. Right. You don't need it. You don't need to pull it out. I've never had to use it to renew my driver's license. We say that all to say, because it sort of sets up that in the system, you are a Canadian citizen. You're not an American citizen. Yeah. So much to your surprise, a few weeks later, you get what in the mail? I got a voter's registration card. And I've never, ever registered to vote. And it was in coincidence with my renewing my driver's license. But I didn't do it. I know enough not to vote that I can't. It's illegal. Yes. As a reminder, it is illegal. You were well-educated enough to know that. Then you get a second voter ID card. We saw that. I mean, it has the correct address, your name, all the things, tells you where to vote. When you got that, what was your reaction? I was really shocked. I just, I couldn't figure out how it happened, number one, and that they already knew. In the system, I'm not a legal American citizen, so I was really shocked, and I mean, I could have gone and voted. I mean, I could go and vote, but I just thought it was really wrong, and then not to mention that, if it happened to me, how many other people are out there with the amount of people that live in Michigan, you know, it's just not one mistake, me. There's gotta be more than that. And you said something interesting. We interviewed you at your home earlier this week. We've been tracking this story since then. And you said you felt like you were kind of set up to fail. And that's a really interesting point because maybe you could have thought, hey, did my status change? Did the rules change? Talk about that a little. And it did. And I have to admit, it really did. And I was kind of, I know there are some people that I do know that have voted, they're Canadian. And I just, I didn't want to get caught. I don't know. There's nothing on the voter's registration card really that says that you have to be an American citizen to vote, number one. It does not. We checked that and it is not explicit on that card at all. So there are people out there that probably don't even realize that would go ahead and do that. And the other thing was, I really thought that my driver's license, when they asked for my green card, my driver's license may have changed to identify me as not an American citizen, but that's not happening. That has not happened. And so we're taking a look right now at the Secretary of State response. We reached out kind of on your behalf to flag them. This is what they said. I'm going to read it. Says this individual's driver's record is more than 30 years old. She has no voting history, no record she ever received an absentee ballot. We are investigating and will cancel her registration. That was a biggie. Only US citizens can register and vote. Anyone who receives a voter registration card and is not eligible should contact their local A local clerk or S.O.S. To cancel it. When you found out that your registration was canceled, which is kind of ironic in all of this, you were probably a little bit happy that the problem got solved. Yeah. But at the same time, I obviously, they're admitting that I was still registered to vote. So apparently they have, I don't know what they've looked into for it, but. I'm obviously, I was still registered. Yeah, there was kind of a backdoor admission of we're going to get rid of her. You had kind of sat on this for a little bit. You reached out to us. We didn't seek you out. Why did you feel the need to kind of go public? I think just in light of the way things are today. And, you know, in 2020, I did get a mail-in ballot, even though they say I didn't. Yeah. But I did. And it just... It just doesn't seem legal to me, and I just wonder how the voting process really is, and I think there needs to be some serious changes. And, you know, a word to it, you had said earlier that, you know, you. You want to look out for other people that aren't citizens so that they don't get in trouble. Oh, absolutely. Okay. Absolutely. Well, Jacqueline, thank you for sharing your story with us. You did a great job out here tonight. Thanks so much. I appreciate it. Thank you. Okay, we are doing a Fox 2 reality check right after the break. There have been a ton of false claims about the ballot counting process at Huntington Place, especially surrounding those late-night ballot deliveries. Simply put, it's the process working, not anything nefarious. We're going myth-busting next. It's people, power, and politics. Welcome back to Detroit's only nightly political talk show, The Pulse. We're ending the show with a Fox 2 reality check tonight, because ever since 2020, there have been false claims of voter fraud made about Detroit. It all surrounds those late night deliveries of ballots to Huntington Place where votes are counted. Simply put, no, those deliveries are not a sign of fraud. It is a normal part of the process to make sure each eligible vote is counted. I caught up with Matt Friedman of Detroit Votes to debunk these myths. Matt, I want to start by asking you, explain the folklore that surrounds now Huntington Place and the ballot counting that goes on there. Take us back a few years. A lot of people remember 2020, because the election was challenged by the president at the time, but at the same time, it was a very unusual scene that gripped the attention of the nation. But the fact of the matter is, in Detroit, the ballots have historically been counted accurately and professionally before 2020 and since 2020. And actually, the outcome of the 2020 election in Detroit held up by court after court after court. So you may remember the images of the windows and the chants and the protests, but the counting worked and it has worked exceptionally well since then. What's changed moving into 2024 and modern day? The law has changed. Number one is that state law now allows for pre-processing. So all of the absentee ballots don't have to be counted on election night anymore. In fact, pre-processing began Monday of this week. So, there's not going to be quite as much to do on election day and election night as there used to be, and that's really different. Many of the votes have already been counted, as we're talking here now. And as you mentioned, eyes on Detroit in several past elections. Some of that kind of controversy surrounding these black vans or U-Haul trucks in the middle of the night. Dispel some rumors for us. Explain what those are pulling up to the back of Huntington Place. I want everybody to understand there will be at least one truck, maybe more, that will come to Huntington Place with ballots late at night on election night. The law dictates it, and that's because absentee ballots can be deposited in drop boxes until 8 o'clock at night on election night. So that means that there's an enormous logistics effort in the city of Detroit with 38 drop boxes, convenient in every neighborhood, that have to get picked up around 140 square miles. That takes time. The signatures on those absentee ballots need to be verified. That takes time, so it's going to be several hours between when the polls close and when those ballots can be tabulated, and that means they're going to arrive probably after midnight. So there will be maybe more than one truck. It will show up late, it will have ballots, and it's completely legal. And Matt, why U-Hauls? Why dark vans? Explain that. Well, they're going to be rental trucks because it doesn't make any sense for the city to own trucks it's only going to use on election nights for big elections when there are a lot of absentee ballots that have to be picked up. So it's more than likely going to be a rental truck. That's just smart use of taxpayer money. You're talking about 38 ballot boxes in the city of Detroit. How does that compare to some of the suburbs that get their counting done? Historically faster most of the suburbs have one drop box and it's typically located very close to the clerk's office So in the typical suburb a clerk will send somebody outside to get the ballots after eight o'clock on election night Bring them maybe across the parking lot for signature verification and tabulation It's a very quick and orderly process The city of Detroit is so much bigger in terms of the number of voters and the sheer geography. It just takes longer The stakes of this election are really high. We're talking mega swing state. The eyes on Detroit, the eyes on Wayne County are going to be intense. What would you ask people as they watch the coverage and hear some of the misnomers and the rumors that have popped up? This election. Will be professional and accurate and is under the watchful eye of poll challengers from both parties with absentee ballots as well as in the precincts. It's going to take some time to come up with a final number. You just have to be patient and understand that the elections team in Detroit is doing its job. And if it takes until the wee hours of Wednesday morning, it's because the process is being done correctly and it just takes that long. All right, we will be watching. Matt Friedman, thank you. Thanks. And if you see something on TV or online that you're not sure is accurate, hit us up. You can send us an email to thepulse at fox.com or scan that QR code to auto-launch the email on your phone. You can also reach out to us on social media. That email goes to our entire Pulse team. We're always working for you to make sure you have accurate information. Thanks for being with us tonight. I'm Jessica Dupin.