A judge dismissed all charges against two St. Clair Shores election workers after the Michigan Attorney General charged them and others in a double voting case in the recent primary election.
The felony charges were tossed out against Emily McClintock and Patricia Guciardo during a preliminary examination hearing Tuesday in 40th District Court in St. Clair Shores. A third election worker, Molly Brasure, also was charged and is awaiting her next court date on Jan. 7.
The trio were among a group Attorney General Dana Nessel charged in October, along with four St. Clair Shores residents she accused of intentionally voting twice in the August primary.
The voters committed election fraud when they sent in an absentee ballot and still voted in person at the polls, Nessel said at a news conference then. The three election workers allegedly knew of their absentee ballots — an electronic voter information tracking system informed them — and let them vote anyway.
The AG’s Office identified the election workers as assistant clerks, but St. Clair Shores Mayor Kip Walby previously told the Free Press they were seasonal workers, not assistant clerks.
Robert Ihrie, the city attorney who represented McClintock and Guciardo, said the charges against them “should have never been filed.”
They were charged with one count each of falsifying election returns or records, a five-year felony; voting absentee and in person, and offering to vote more than once.
Ihrie said the pair gave their time and effort to help in an election, had been doing this for years and had no criminal record. He said he believes District Judge Joseph Oster dismissed the case because it was “very simply, lacking in evidence,” adding Oster “followed the law and listened very carefully and intently.”
Ihrie said he hopes the AG’s Office does not appeal the decision regarding his clients to “prove a point — because it is a point that is not provable.”
The dismissals are notable, he said, because “it’s difficult to get a case dismissed at the exam level” as there only is a need to show probable cause, which is a lower standard than at trial.
Ihrie said the city should be commended for “standing by and standing behind its people.” He said the “sad part about this” is that they hope it doesn’t “create a chilling effect on people who want to volunteer and work at the polls for fear if they make a mistake they’ll be charged with a five-year felony.”
AG Office Spokesperson Danny Wimmer in an email said: “Our office is currently 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.”
More: Write-in candidates in elections ‘always have a chance’
More: Coin toss helps decide election tiebreaker in Macomb County
One of the four St. Clair Shores residents accused of double voting, Douglas Kempkens, Jr., on Tuesday at the preliminary exam was bound over to stand trial in Macomb County Circuit Court. The AG’s Office previously said he was charged with one count each of voting absentee and in-person, and offering to vote more than once.
Voters Frank Prezzato, Geneva O’Day and Stacey Kramer are charged with one count each of voting absentee and in-person, and offering to vote more than once. Prezzato is due in court Jan. 3 in the district court and O’Day, on Jan. 7, per court records. Kramer, who already has been ordered to stand trial, has a pretrial conference Jan. 21 in circuit court.
The charges by the AG’s Office were filed after Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido declined to charge the four voters, stating in an August news release that a review of the evidence concluded probable cause did not exist to believe a crime occurred. The alleged election fraud occurred at three different voting precincts.
An electronic poll book at each precinct shows whether voters have already cast a ballot. In the case of the four voters, the system indicated their ballots were already received by the local clerk, Nessel previously said.
She said volunteer poll workers informed the three assistant clerks and were instructed to override the system and issue in-person ballots. She said the assistant clerks then illegally changed the status of the four voters’ absentee ballots in the electronic poll book from “received” to “rejected.”
The voters cast their in-person ballots, which still were counted alongside their absentee ballots. The election workers were accused of not making any effort to ensure the corresponding ballot was rejected from the absentee voter counting board.
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @challreporter.
Support local journalism. Subscribe to the Free Press.
Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Charges dropped for 2 election workers in double voting case in Macomb