Michigan judge drops felonies for poll workers in double-voting case

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A Macomb County judge Tuesday threw out felony charges against two poll workers accused of allegedly helping voters vote more than once in the August primary.

Judge Joseph C. Oster dismissed charges against Patricia Guciardo and Emily McClintock, who were both poll workers in St. Clair Shores. Both faced multiple years in prison for allegedly allowing the voters to cast ballots after they’d already voted in the election and for falsifying election records.

But Guciardo’s and McClintock’s cases aren’t necessarily done. Danny Wimmer, a spokesperson for Attorney General Dana Nessel, said Tuesday the office is “exploring its appellate options concerning the dismissals.”

“The Department of Attorney General takes very seriously cases of election fraud, and will attempt to hold accountable all individuals criminally responsible for these instances of double voting in St. Clair Shores,” Wimmer wrote in an email.

The office is continuing to prosecute other suspects in the same investigation. Wimmer added that it was a “positive development” that voter Douglas Kempkens Jr., who was also in court Tuesday on charges of voting both absentee and in person, was formally sent to trial in Macomb County Circuit Court. Stacey Kramer, another voter who allegedly cast two ballots, was sent to trial in October. A third poll worker and two other voters won’t be in court again until January.

Related:

• Four charged with double voting in Michigan. Three officials charged too
• How election officials caught 4 alleged double votes in Michigan primary
• Voters who cast two ballots in Michigan primary won’t face charges

Lawyer Robert Ihrie, who was paid by St. Clair Shores to represent McClintock and Guciardo, said that his clients had tears of joy after hearing the decision.

“These are people who give up their energy and time to help out with elections, and most of them have been doing it for years and never had a problem,” he said. “These are people with no criminal records, and here they make a mistake and get charged with felonies.”

He added that it was “sad” they were charged at all, saying that he felt it was a political decision to charge them and others. He said it would make sense to charge someone who tried to deliberately commit fraud.

“We are certainly not in favor of that. But this situation is not that situation,” he said.

He worried about a potential chilling effect on poll workers, who might not want to do the job out of fear they could be held criminally responsible for mistakes. If the decision is appealed, Ihrie said he expected the same result. 

Reached by phone, St. Clair Shores Clerk Abby Barrett said that she was relieved for the workers who had charges dismissed.

“This sets the precedent that people should not be afraid to work the elections,” Barrett told Votebeat. “We will support our people.”

She said she felt bad for Kempkens but couldn’t offer additional comment on the ongoing trials. 

Kempkens’ attorney could not be immediately reached for comment Tuesday.

The AG’s office charged four voters and three poll workers in October for the alleged double voting. It was a surprise to even the voters, who thought they were cleared of wrongdoing after Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido declined to prosecute them in August.

Nessel alleged in a press conference that “for this to have occurred, it required multiple people in a concentrated area that were willing to break the law all on the day during the course of a single election.” All four of the double votes were counted, although they did not affect the outcomes of any race.

Lucido had initially declined to charge, saying that he felt the double votes were mistakes. Police records obtained by Votebeat indicated much of the same: The double ballots were not intentional, police found while investigating.

Names in the report were redacted, but in one case, it appeared a spouse had turned in their partner’s ballot instead of their own, resulting in two cast. In another case, a voter said they thought they had returned an application to vote, not a ballot. Others said they simply did not realize they had voted twice.

Mistakes are not impossible, as Bloomfield Township Clerk Martin Brook told the Macomb Daily after the hearing. The days are long and stressful, and the work can be difficult.

“We can’t run elections without volunteers,” he told the Daily. “I’m thrilled by this result. It’s the right result. It shows the AG should never have brought the charges.”

Hayley Harding is a reporter for Votebeat based in Michigan. Contact Hayley at hharding@votebeat.org.