DETROIT (WXYZ) — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced charges against seven people – including three city workers – for an alleged double-voting incident in the August 2024 primary.
Nessel made the announcement on Friday morning, nearly two months after the August primary.
Watch Nessel's full press conference in the video below
The charges are against four voters and three assistant clerks who Nessel said enabled the double-voting to happen.
It's alleged that the voters voted by absentee ballot and then went to the precinct on primary election day and voted in person.
"Here in Michigan we have significant barriers in place to keep this from happening, but on Aug. 6, 2024, those processes failed because three election workers violated the law by ignoring systemic warnings, knowingly, willfully allowing double-voting to occur," Nessel said at the press conference.
Nessel reminded the public that the three election workers who were charged are not volunteer election workers, but are municipal employees who are trained in election law and procedure.
"Whether you’re a Democrat, a Republican or an Independent; a first-time voter or long-time voter, you only get one vote. It is the job of our dedicated public servants to ensure this basic tenant of our democratic system is followed," Nessel said.
In laying out the case, Nessel said that it took a "perfect storm" of events to come together to allow the alleged double-voting to happen.
There's no evidence that the defendants worked together as part of a larger scheme, Nessel said when asked by 7 News Detroit.
“We know all seven committed crimes, but whether this was a pattern or scheme, we don’t have evidence to support that,” Nessel said.
What happened?
Nessel said that the four people appeared at their respective polling locations on election day to request primary ballots to vote. When they arrived, they were informed by volunteers that they had already completed and returned absentee ballots.
In each instance in three precincts, the workers saw the warnings on the poll book, which is an electronic record for pollworkers, that indicated the voters had already completed and returned an absentee ballot, and it had been received and approved for tabulation.
"Despite the clear and obvious warnings, the election workers on site contacted a designated municipal call-in center, seeking direction from the assistant clerks," Nessel said.
Then, Nessel said the assistant clerks were instructed to issue the would-be voters a second ballot and to override the warning.
She also said that three of the four voters falsely completed an affidavit where they wrongly claimed they had not voted in the election.
It's then alleged that the clerks altered the qualified voter file to show that the absentee ballot were rejected and didn't make any effort to make sure the ballot was rejected by the absentee ballot counting board here.
According to the attorney general, both the in-person votes and the absentee votes were counted in the election.
“The conduct alleged here by the assistant clerks is a flagrant violation of election laws and they criminally facilitated in the double-voting," Nessel said.
The four voters charged are each facing one count of voting absentee and in person, a five-year felony, and one count of offering to vote more than once, a four-year felony. Those people are: Frank Prezzato, 68, Stacy Kramer, 56, Douglas Kempkins, Jr., 44, and Geneva O'Day, 62.
Two clerks are each charged with one count of voting absentee and in person, one count of offering to vote more than once and one count of falsifying election returns or records. A third clerk is facing two counts of each charge. Those people are Patricia Guciardo, 73, Emily McClintock, 42, and Molly Brasure, 31, who is facing two counts.
Macomb County prosecutor declined to press charges
Nessel said that the case was first reported to the Macomb County clerk by the St. Clair Shores clerk. The investigation by the police department was referred to Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido, who in August, declined to press charges.
In an August press release where Lucido's office announced they wouldn't press charges, he said that the prosecutor's office found probable cause did not exist to believe a crime had occurred.
“We evaluate cases based on facts. St. Clair Shores elections officials quickly identified the issue, preserved records for review, and reported it promptly. This demonstrates that election safeguards are effective and maintain overall integrity,” Lucido said in the August statement.
However, Nessel in the press conference on Wednesday said it became evident as they followed the case that the events were rare and extremely unusual and that Lucido's office conducted no additional investigation.
"I watched some of the interviews of Prosecutor Lucido when he was denying the charges, and frankly some of the statements he made were factually inaccurate," Nessel said. “Prosecutor Lucido didn’t just deny charges but was explicit as to why. I was disturbed by comments he indicated only one vote counted, which is factually wrong.”
Nessel also said they do not know the specific motives of the voters or the clerks, and do not know most of the likely political affiliations.
She did say that two of the assistant clerks marked that they were registered Democrats when they were trained as election workers.
“I respect the Attorney General’s jurisdiction and investigatory resources. It is not unusual for the AG to charge criminal cases, in which a local prosecutor did not. I expect justice will be served. I have no further comment on this on-going case,” Lucido said in a statemet.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson released a statement after Nessel's announcement that read in part, "We will watch closely to see how the facts bear out in this case. 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."
