Four charged with double voting in Michigan. Three officials charged too

• Four St. Clair Shores voters charged with felonies Friday for allegedly knowingly voting twice in the August primary
• Attorney General Dana Nessel claims three clerks also ignored multiple system warnings that allowed the extra votes to be counted
• Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido had declined to press charges, finding voters likely didn’t intentionally commit a crime

DETROIT — Four Saint Clair Shores residents face felony charges after double voting in the August primary, and three assistant election clerks face felonies for allowing it to happen, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said Friday.

During a Friday press conference, Nessel alleged a “perfect storm” occurred in the Macomb County lakeshore community that allowed the four voters to cast ballots both absentee and in-person during the Aug. 6 primary election. 

Voting twice is a felony in Michigan, and documented examples of voters casting multiple ballots are rare given existing safeguards. In 2022, the state auditor general found that of more than 11.7 million votes cast in the state over several election cycles, 99.99% were not duplicates.

Four instances of double voting in St. Clair Shores in one election was “shocking and simply unheard of” for a municipality of that size, Nessel said. 

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The four voters charged in the case stand accused of voting absentee and in person, and one count of offering to vote more than once, crimes that are punishable by up to four and five years in prison, respectively.  

Three assistant clerks face charges of falsifying election returns or records, a five year felony, for allegedly altering the state’s qualified voter file after allowing the double voting, which the system would have otherwise prevented.

Nessel said she was not aware of any specific motive, or if the incidents were related. But she claimed that all of the voters involved knew they were illegally casting another ballot, and that the assistant clerks ignored multiple warnings when election systems flagged that the voters had already cast ballots.

In three of the four cases, voters signed an affidavit saying they hadn’t received an absentee ballot despite filling one out and sending it back, Nessel said. 

“In this particular case, this was specifically intentional,” Nessel, a second-term Democrat, told reporters. “It was not a minor mistake.” 

Double voting is “extremely rare” and “extremely unusual,” Nessel added, alleging the local deputy clerks had to take extra steps to allow it to happen. 

“It's my hope that every single one of these cases serves to prevent others who may be considering violating Michigan's election laws and is an educational moment for Michigan residents who choose to participate in our state's elections,” she said. 

The double voting discrepancy was flagged by St. Clair Shores officials shortly after the August election. The attorney general’s office continued to investigate after Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido declined to issue charges in late August, Nessel said. 

At the time Lucido said the four voters likely hadn’t intended to commit a crime and that the issue was caught quickly. 

“This situation highlights an opportunity for law enforcement and elections officials to review and train on this and other issues,” Lucido said in an August news release. “Macomb County clerks know the rules and follow them, they are diligent to safeguard our elections and keep the process tight.”

Outstanding warrants have been issued for all seven defendants charged. 

In response to the news, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said in a statement her office would monitor the case and that any efforts to commit voter fraud in Michigan would not be tolerated. 

“Voting more than once is illegal,” Benson said. “Anyone who tries to vote multiple times in an election will get caught and they will be charged.”