Michigan Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer | Michigan.gov
Michigan Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer | Michigan.gov
The Michigan Republican Party is sounding the alarm about the company that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is using to obtain information for large-scale volunteer contact tracing of COVID-19.
On April 21, Michigan Information and Research Service and the Detroit News reported that Whitmer is using a data firm that is highly partisan, skewing toward Democrats and progressives, to mount a large-scale volunteer contact tracing effort. The platform is produced by NGP VAN.
“Awarding the contract for such a critically important project to an openly partisan political firm raises major questions about Gov. Whitmer’s ethics and her priorities,” said Laura Cox, Michigan Republican Party Chairman. “In addition to the fact that a partisan company should not be handling a public health crisis, the Michigan Republican Party is extremely concerned with how this data will be used. The fact that there is now the possibility that it will be utilized for partisan ends is deeply troubling. This is yet another example of the governor’s reckless leadership during a pandemic while abusing her power for political gain.”
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