Michigan attorney general charges four voters, three clerks for alleged double voting

The four voters allegedly voted both absentee and in-person because the assistant clerks allowed it.

Published: October 7, 2024 1:58pm

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) filed charges against four voters and three assistant clerks for allegedly double voting in the state's August primary election.

Four residents of St. Clair Shores, Mich., allegedly requested ballots at their local polling location for the August primary election but were told that their absentee ballots had previously been received by the local clerk, according to Nessel's office.

However, despite the Electronic Poll Book showing that the ballots had been received, the assistant clerks allegedly instructed election workers to override the system warning and give the voters in-person ballots. The in-person ballots were counted along with the voters' absentee ballots, as the assistant clerks hadn't ensured that the absentee ballots had been rejected.

The four voters were each charged with a felony count of voting absentee and in-person and another felony count of offering to vote more than once, the attorney general's office announced Friday. Two St. Clair Shores assistant clerks were each charged with a felony count of falsifying election returns or records, a felony count of voting absentee and in-person, and another felony count of offering to vote more than once.

Another St. Clair Shores assistant clerk faces two counts of each of the felony charges that the other two assistant clerks face.

Nessel's office is prosecuting the case after the Macomb County prosecutor said he wouldn't file criminal charges.

“Despite common talking points by those who seek to instill doubt in our electoral process, double voting in Michigan is extremely rare,” Nessel said in a statement. “There are procedures in place to ensure this does not happen and that is why it so rarely does. It took a confluence of events and decisions to allow these four people to double vote. Nevertheless, the fact that four incidents occurred in a municipality of this size raised significant concerns and is simply unheard of.”