Michigan attorney general charges 7 over double voting in Macomb County

Craig Mauger, The Detroit News on Oct 4, 2024

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DETROIT — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Friday that she's bringing criminal charges against seven individuals who were allegedly involved in a flurry of double voting in the August primary election in St. Clair Shores.

Nessel's office is alleging that four people voted twice — once in person on Election Day and once through an absentee ballot — and three assistant municipal clerks allowed the double voting to occur "significantly" breaking from rules.

"There are procedures in place to ensure that this does not happen, and that's why it so rarely does," Nessel said during a press conference in Detroit. "It really took a perfect storm to come together to allow these four individuals to double vote, which included voters who were willing to vote twice, the completion of affidavits that were false, poll workers who did not turn them away as they should have and municipal clerks who illegally altered the qualified voting file."

On Aug. 15, The Detroit News reported the Macomb County Clerk Tony Forlini's office had notified the state and Macomb County Prosecutor Pete Lucido of "possible double voting involving four individuals" in the Aug. 6 primary election. The situation was first identified by St. Clair Shores Clerk Abby Barrett, according to Forlini.

Two weeks later, on Aug. 29, Lucido, a Republican, announced he wouldn't bring charges because of the incidents.

At the time, Lucido said the report submitted by local police to the prosecutor’s office indicated that there was “no malicious or criminal intent displayed by any of the voters, each claiming an honest mistake.” The report indicated the individuals in question had tried to spoil their absentee ballots, believed they had spoiled their absentee ballots and then proceeded to cast a ballot in person, Lucido said.

"The people did everything in their power to make sure that they only voted once," Lucido said previously. "The intent is critical on our part on whether we charge.”

But Nessel, Michigan's top law enforcement official and a Democrat, said her office believed Lucido "had conducted no additional investigation" beyond the work of local police and the handling of the matter by his office had been "insufficient." Nessel said voters simply cannot, under the law, spoil an absentee ballot on Election Day and then vote again in person.

"Frankly, some of the statements he made were just factually inaccurate and also legally incorrect," Nessel said of Lucido.

Nessel said she believes the evidence will show the four people were "trying to vote a second time."

Lucido didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Nessel said her office hadn't determined the motive of the seven individuals charged on Friday. Her office was uncertain of the party affiliation of most the seven people. Two of the assistant clerks, she said, had previously listed themselves as Democrats when registering to serve as election workers.

The four St. Clair Shores residents are being charged with one count of voting absentee and in person and one count of offering to vote more than once. Two St. Clair Shores election staffers are being charged with one count of falsifying election records, one count of voting absentee and in person and one count of offering to vote more than once.

Another election worker in St. Clair Shores is being charged with two counts of falsifying election records, two counts of voting absentee and in person and two counts of offering to vote more than once.

The charges are felonies. The most serious, falsifying records and voting absentee and in person, carry maximum penalties of five years behind bars.

Nessel identified the seven individuals during her press conference Friday, but their names' spellings and ages hadn't been released by the Attorney General's office as of noon.

In a statement Friday, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said anyone who tries to vote multiple times in an election "will get caught and they will be charged."

“We will watch closely to see how the facts bear out in this case," Benson said. "But anyone who thinks they can get away with voting fraud in Michigan should know we will not tolerate any attempt to interfere in our elections."

Instances of double voting in Michigan have been extremely rare, according to a 2022 report from the Michigan Office of the Auditor General, which examined the state's qualified voter file. The report found 99.99% of votes examined were not duplicates.

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