St. Clair Shores leaders respond to double-voting allegations

ST. CLAIR SHORES — On Oct. 7, the mayor of St. Clair Shores and City Council members blasted Michigan Attorney Dana Nessel’s decision to bring felony charges against three election workers and four residents after the residents reportedly voted twice in the August primary election.

The comments from the officials came during the City Council’s regular meeting.

St. Clair Shores City Clerk Abby Barrett gave an overview of what happened. She said four individuals voted both absentee and in person during the August primary election.

“My office became aware of this immediately on election night when reconciling and running reports,” Barrett said. “We turned these reports into the county prosecutor’s office, the (Macomb) county Board of Canvassers, the local police department and the (Michigan) Bureau of Elections.”

St. Clair Shores Police Chief Jason Allen gave an overview of the ensuing investigation. He said the prosecutor asked the department to complete its formal investigation and, at that point, the department could have gone to Nessel’s office. Allen said investigators spoke to the city clerk, numerous election workers and the four involved voters.

One voter reportedly said he doesn’t typically vote absentee and turned in a ballot he thought was his wife’s. When he voted in person during the primary election on Aug. 6, he said he was told his ballot had already been turned in. He reportedly said he told election workers that it wasn’t and was allowed to vote.

The second person reportedly didn’t know if her ballot had been turned in on her behalf and came to City Hall to find out and vote.

The third person reportedly filled out a registration he thought was for a different election and voted at the precinct.

The fourth person reportedly did not remember turning in an absentee ballot and was allowed to vote in person.

All evidence was turned over to Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido’s office, where warrants for criminal charges were ultimately denied.

Lucido said in an interview that Nessel indicated there were 59 similar cases in the state.

He questioned why St. Clair Shores was called out specifically.

Mayor Kip Walby said that in his opinion, no voter fraud was committed. He quoted Nessel who said the three clerks were not volunteers but municipal employees who knew election law and procedures.

“That’s a total misrepresentation,” Walby said. “These people are part-time seasonal election workers. Two of the three people worked one day. The election day. One day they worked.”

He acknowledged that the workers do go through training.

“But she (Nessel) made it (sound) as if these are, like, full-time employees working in the city,” Walby said.

At press time on Oct. 9, St. Clair Shores officials confirmed those facing charges included three seasonal part-time election workers, paid a flat rate for their service. None of those charged were full-time city employees.

Regarding the four voters, Walby said they just wanted to be a part of the American process.

“No intent here for voter fraud so we can charge them with a four- or five-year penalty,” Walby said.

Walby called the charges political theater. He claimed a couple hours later, he received a text message soliciting donations that referenced a case of voter fraud found in St. Clair Shores. Walby said only it was someone who was running for a county position.

“So we already have somebody trying to leech onto that to get support, get money and claiming voter fraud,” Walby said. “I thought people were innocent until proven guilty.”

Walby said part-time workers are critical to city elections and that cases like this will deter others from working.

In an email response to a request for comment on this story, the press office for the attorney general stated, “The facts of this case are simple: four residents of St. Clair Shores voted twice, and three employees of the city facilitated it. Given that, it’s alarming that the mayor and his colleagues on the council are more interested in grandstanding in defense of illegal activity than correcting what allowed this to happen in the first place.”

The statement also called on the City Council and mayor to reassure voters in St. Clair Shores that they are “equally as committed to ensuring their elections are conducted in a lawful and accurate manner.”

“Instead, we heard misplaced outrage,” the email stated. “We hope that the residents of the city and state at large can at least be assured that when their local elected officials fail to take election violations seriously, that the Department of Attorney General will.”

Councilman John Caron said the real harm is that all four voters now have their names associated with felony charges.

“Where do you go to get your reputation back again after your name’s been out there like that?” Caron said. “I absolutely 100% agree with everything you (Walby) said.”

Councilman Dave Rubello specifically called out Christina Hines, the Democratic candidate for Macomb County prosecutor. Rubello said she was the one soliciting donations in text messages sent just hours after the charges were announced.

He agreed with Caron and Walby, calling the charged individuals good people.

“I would hope that the attorney general could look at these people in the faces and see who they are,” Rubello said in his closing comments. “And see who, you know, they’re not just names on papers. These are people we live with. These are people that do great things for us in the community. These are volunteers. They’re not out to turn the world around with a fake election. Not the right people, Christina Hines.”

A press release sent by Hines on the afternoon of Oct. 4, the day the charges were announced, criticized Lucido for not bringing charges and for choosing “not to even investigate this case.”

Reached for comment on this report, Hines responded by text message and said, “I am a professional prosecutor. Pete Lucido has never tried a case as a prosecutor in his entire career, and it shows.”

Hines added, “Pete Lucido lied to the public about these cases. Not only did he misinterpret the legal statuses and the ‘intent’ element of these charges, but he went on to tell voters that they could vote absentee and then, on election day, spoil their ballots and vote again. This is not true and it has not been true for decades. It is dangerous when the Chief Law Enforcement Officer in our county doesn’t even know the law.”

Lucido, Macomb County’s Republican incumbent prosecutor, said he was saddened by the turn of events and the actions taken by his opponent, Hines.

“Ultimately, if there was no intent, the crimes cannot be proven,” Lucido said.

He commended Allen, the City Council and Walby.

“Love the support of the St. Clair Shores mayor and the entire City Council that stand behind these individuals,” Lucido said.

Many council members commended Barrett for her work in handling the situation.

Councilman Chris Vitale said he thinks state officials are aware of how hard it is to recruit residents to work elections.

“It’s absolutely ridiculous and I think it’s part of maybe a large trend, movement, whatever you want to call it, to make the average person afraid to participate in the democratic process,” Vitale said. “And that’s so disturbing and disgusting.”

Alysa Diebolt, chair of the Macomb County Democratic Committee and the vice chair of the Macomb County Board of Canvassers, said during public comment at the City Council’s Oct. 7 meeting that the election process is not over when Lucido said it’s done.

She went on to say Nessel’s office was fulfilling its legal requirement to complete the investigation and said it is not political theater.

“We cannot talk all about all the checks and balances in place and then whine when those checks and balances knock on your door,” Diebolt said. “If we want people to believe and have trust in our elections and believe that only valid votes are accurately counted, then we need to respect the entire election process including those who are doing their job protecting our elections.”

She said both those who vote twice and those who allowed it must be held accountable for breaking the law even if it was a mistake.