The presence of Victoria Bishop continues to be a stain on the reputation of Antrim County. We still do not know what action the State Bureau of Elections will take. The State can remove herelection-related duties and can prosecute her for her illegal acts. A judge recently threw out felony charges against another clerk for misconduct in office. That case may make the Attorney General’s office reluctant to prosecute. We hope not.

We encourage you to take the following actions:

-Attend the next County Commission meeting on Thursday, May 21st at 6:30 pm. Speak up during the public comment period. Demand action.

- Send a letter to the Commissioners demanding an investigation. The commission can petition the governor to remove her.

Below is an example of a letter that was sent:

To the Antrim County Board of Commissioners:

As a taxpayer for over 40 years in Antrim County with a home in Bellaire, I am demanding that the Board of Commissioners petition the Circuit Court for the removal of Victoria Bishop as County Clerk.

Victoria Bishop has violated her oath of office and has demonstrated a pattern of disrespect for the law and the citizens of our County. She is disenfranchising voters, doing irreparable harm to our County’s reputation, voter’s faith in our elections and the functioning of our County.

-She illegally failed to respond to a demand by the Bureau of Elections by an April 23, 2026 deadline.

-She improperly mailed out 1800 postcards to voters threatening their removal from the Qualified Voter Rolls.

-She usurped the powers of township clerks.

-She intentionally provided false information to township clerks.

-She issued a public statement which made it clear that she intentionally failed to follow State law.

-She has improperly spent taxpayer money on the above activities.

-She has made it clear that she intends to spend taxpayer money to fight the Bureau of Elections through countless legal proceedings at the State and Federal levels which could cost Antrim County taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars.

-She gave her husband improper access to a County computer and County records.

-Since taking office, she was found in contempt of court by a Federal judge.

-She improperly accepted $10,000 in cash campaign contributions in 2024 which voters did not know until after she was elected.

-She filed a false campaign finance report while seeking election to the Clerk position which voters were unaware of when she was elected.

Any one of these actions would be grounds to remove her but in combination provides a pattern of misconduct in which this Board should not be complicit. Vote to remove her now.

- Allen Wolf

It’s Earth Day 2026, and we have something remarkable to share with you.

This morning, the United States Supreme Court issued its decision in Enbridge Energy v. Nessel, and Michigan won. Unanimously.

The Court ruled 9-0 that Enbridge’s attempt to drag the Michigan Attorney General’s Line 5 lawsuit into federal court was untimely and legally improper. The case must return to Michigan state court, where it belongs.

Let that sink in for a moment. Nine justices. Zero dissents.

Here’s what happened: When the Michigan Attorney General filed suit in 2019 to void the 1953 easement allowing Line 5 to cross the Straits of Mackinac, Enbridge had 30 days to remove the case to federal court. They didn’t do it. Instead, they spent years gaming the system, litigating in state court, watching and waiting, and finally attempting removal 887 days after the deadline. Nearly two and a half years late.

Today, the Supreme Court said: No. You don’t get to do that.

OWDM Advocates Julie and Bill at the US Supreme Court

Our campaign coordinator Sean McBrearty put it plainly:

“This is a clear and pivotal win generated by the movement to shut down Line 5, and the tenacious defense of our Great Lakes exhibited by Attorney General Nessel. Enbridge failed to honor the 30-day deadline to remove this case from state to federal court, and we applaud this ruling that upholds the fact that huge multinational oil companies are not above the law.”

This ruling means Michigan’s courts, accountable to Michigan’s people, will decide the fate of a 72-year-old pipeline crossing the most vulnerable stretch of the Great Lakes. That is exactly what this fight has always been about: the right of Michigan to protect its own waters.

This didn’t happen by accident.

It happened because you showed up. At rallies in the rain. At legislative hearings. Online, in letters, in conversations with neighbors who didn’t know what Line 5 was until you told them. It happened because this coalition refused to let this issue get buried in legal maneuvering.

You did this.

And the work isn’t finished. As Sean said: “Now, this case will head back to state court, where it belongs. Thanks to Michigan’s attorney general, we are closer than ever to taking down a foreign fossil fuel giant that is putting 84 percent of North America’s available, fresh surface water at risk each day that Line 5 continues operating past its expiration date.”

Enbridge has deep pockets and every intention of continuing this battle. We need to be ready.

Can you make a gift today to keep Oil & Water Don’t Mix in this fight?

MAKE AN EARTH DAY DONATION NOW

Tribal nations, environmental and health advocates, business, and others from across the political divide have been demanding the same thing for years: shut down Line 5. On this Earth Day, we are closer than ever.

Let’s finish this together.

With gratitude and determination,

Julie Geisinger
Organizing Coordinator

Oil & Water Don’t Mix

P.S. Today’s ruling was written by Justice Sotomayor and joined by every member of the Court. When the law is clear and the cause is just, it shows. Thank you for being part of this.

Oil & Water Don’t Mix

https://www.oilandwaterdontmix.org/

GIVE Now

Learn more about the Movement.
Visit: www.oilandwaterdontmix.org
Follow on Instagram, Bluesky, X (Twitter), TikTok, Facebook, and Substack.

Your donation may be eligible for a matching gift from your employer. Find out on our website.

Oil & Water Don’t Mix
602 W Ionia St, Lansing, MI 48933, United States
cleanwater@oilandwaterdontmix.org

By Hayley Harding, Votebeat | April 14, 2026, 8:56pm EDTThis article was originally published by Votebeat, a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access.

The Michigan Bureau of Elections is demanding answers from a controve

rsial county clerk who reportedly canceled or changed voters’ registrations when she wasn’t supposed to.

The bureau sent a letter to Antrim County Clerk Victoria Bishop on Tuesday saying it had received information suggesting she had made voter registration changes “that fall outside the scope of your statutory authority and fail to comply with the law.”

Bishop, a Republican, was first elected in 2024 on a platform of cleaning up Antrim County’s voter roll. She is associated with the wing of the Republican Party that claims the 2020 election was stolen from President Donald Trump.

Michigan says Antrim County clerk canceled voter registrations

The bureau learned that Bishop, who took office in 2025, apparently sent confirmation and cancellation notices — essentially, notices sent by election officials when they believe a voter has moved — to an unknown number of voters who didn’t vote in the last two major elections. However, the bureau noted in the letter, “Michigan law is explicit that a clerk may not cancel, or cause the cancellation of, a voter’s registration solely because a voter has missed one or two elections.”

The bureau also said it has information suggesting Bishop did not independently verify the information she acted on to send the notices, as required by the state’s election officials’ manual.

The letter says Bishop also allegedly changed voters’ statuses in the state voter file, known as the Qualified Voter File or QVF, to “Cancel” or “Reject” “without any agreement or delegation of authority allowing you to do so from the affected local jurisdiction.”

County clerks aren’t allowed to unilaterally update the QVF or send such notices to voters, even for proper reasons. Michigan law puts local clerks — at the city and township level — in charge of maintaining voter records for their jurisdictions.

The letter, signed by Bureau of Elections Director Jonathan Brater, asks Bishop to provide a detailed explanation of what she did and why, as well as a justification for her actions. It goes on to request lists of the voters to whom she sent notices and whose status she changed in the QVF.

Angela Benander, a spokesperson for the Michigan Department of State, said that the bureau began looking into Bishop’s actions after receiving “reports about concerning activity” from voters and local clerks alike. From there, state officials looked at the QVF and found enough irregularities to prompt the requests to Bishop.

“The BOE is able to see the activity of clerks in the QVF,” Benander said.

Bishop did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday evening.

Antrim County is a hotbed of election conspiracy theories

Controversy has swirled around Antrim County elections even before Bishop took office. The northern Michigan county was at the center of election conspiracy theories following the 2020 election, when the county’s unofficial results initially showed Joe Biden winning the heavily Republican county by a few thousand votes. The error, which occurred after ballot tabulators weren’t correctly updated, was quickly corrected, but Trump and others seized on the mistake as evidence that voting machines were rigged against him.

In the 2024 election, Bishop defeated the county clerk who had overseen the error by pledging to “restore election integrity in Antrim County.” During that campaign, Bishop said she believed “we still have dead people and people who no longer live in Antrim County” on the voter roll and promised to work with local clerks to remove them before the 2026 election.

Bishop is married to Randy Bishop, a conservative talk radio host best known as “Trucker Randy” who has claimed to have evidence that the 2020 election was stolen.

Antrim County will hold a few small elections in May, but township clerks will do the vast majority of the work to oversee those.

But if Bishop is unable to provide the requested information to the state, it could be the first step in ultimately stripping her of her election-related duties. The state has done it before — Stan Grot, the Shelby Township clerk, only recently had his own authority reinstated after being accused of election-related felonies. Other local clerks were removed just before the 2024 election for telling state officials they planned to hand-count ballots.

It is also possible Bishop could face criminal charges. The letter notes that failure to “obey a lawful instruction given by the Secretary may result in a criminal misdemeanor.”

It wouldn’t be Bishop’s first brush with the law; last year, the Michigan Department of State reprimanded Bishop for filing incorrect campaign finance disclosures, and a judge found her in contempt of court.

Hayley Harding is a reporter for Votebeat based in Michigan. Contact Hayley at hharding@votebeat.org.

Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization covering local election integrity and voting access. Sign up for their newsletters here

Need to check to make sure you’re still registered? Visit Vote.org to be sure!

VOTE.ORG

The Antrim County Democratic Party exists for the purpose of winning elections. We can’t win if we don’t have candidates. Not a single Democrat has filed for any local office so far and the deadline is April 21. In fact, no one has filed for most of these offices yet. So, head on in to the Township or County Clerk’s office and file for one of these offices today (during business hours of course).

EC’HO TOWNSHIP

Treasurer Partial Term 12/31/2028

Trustee Partial Term 12/31/2028

HELENA TOWNSHIP

Clerk Partial Term 12/31/2028

JORDAN TOWNSHIP

Clerk Partial Term 12/31/2028

Treasurer Partial Term 12/31/2028

VILLAGE OF BELLAIRE

President 2 Year Term

Trustee 4 Year Term

Trustee 4 Year Term

Trustee 4 Year Term

VILLAGE OF CENTRAL LAKE

President 2 Year Term

Trustee Partial Term 12/31/2028

Trustee 4 Year Term

Trustee 4 Year Term

Trustee 4 Year Term

VILLAGE OF ELK RAPIDS

President 2 Year Term

Trustee 4 Year Term

Trustee 4 Year Term

Trustee 4 Year Term

VILLAGE OF ELLSWORTH

President 2 Year Term

Treasurer 2 Year Term

Clerk 2 Year Term

Trustee Partial Term Expires 2028

Trustee 4 Year Term

Trustee 4 Year Term

Trustee 4 Year Term

VILLAGE OF MANCELONA

President 2 Year Term

Trustee 4 Year Term

Trustee 4 Year Term

Trustee 4 Year Term

Most of these positions are well-compensated for the amount of work required.

File before the April 21 deadline.