Four Michigan voters accused of casting two ballots in the primary now face felony charges • Michigan Advance

When Lucido declined to prosecute in August, he said police determined voters believed they had tampered with their mail-in ballots. He said at the time that voters probably had no intention of committing a crime.

“This has been resolved,” said a surprised Frank Prezzato, one of the four suspected double voters, on Friday afternoon.

He later added that “this matter has really escalated,” but declined to comment further.

Prezzato and fellow St. Clair Shores residents Stacey Kramer, Douglas Kempkins Jr. and Geneva O'Day are charged with two separate felonies: one count of absentee and in-person voting and one count of offering to vote more than once. The combined maximum penalty for these violations is nine years in prison.

Three assistant employees are also charged with crimes. Patricia Guciardo and Emily McClintock are both charged with the same crimes as the voters, plus they are also charged with falsifying election results or records, which carries a maximum sentence of five years. The third, Molly Brasure, faces two counts of falsifying voting documents and two counts each of absentee voting, voting in person and offering to vote more than once.

In a press conference Friday morning, Nessel claimed that the four voters went to their polling place on Election Day and asked to vote even though they had already returned a ballot. The electronic poll book, the computer used to check in voters, indicated to poll workers that those voters had already cast a ballot, as is designed to prevent double voting, but assistant secretaries asked those workers to shut down the system To put strength, Nessel said.

That required clerks to “illegally alter the qualified voting file,” she said, referring to a database that contains records of who is eligible to vote and who has received or returned a mail-in ballot.

“We have adequate procedures in place, which is probably why something like this is so rare,” Nessel added. “For this to happen, it took multiple people in a concentrated area willing to break the law on the same day in the course of a single election.”

All double votes were counted, she said, although they had no impact on the results of the races. In August, more than 13,000 votes were cast in St. Clair Shores, a town of about 57,500 residents.

Nessel worked closely with Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to make it clear that Michigan's elections were fair and the rules were not up for debate, they said. Friday's allegations are just one of the latest examples. Nessel also threatened legal action against poll workers who initially did not certify the results in Delta County (which they ultimately did), and filed charges against a former employee after she allegedly used an electronic poll book to transmit nonpublic voter data. She has also tracked fraudulent votes and unauthorized tab access offered to supporters of Donald Trump.

O'Day, one of the four voters charged, told Votebeat on Friday that she was told her first ballot had not been received. She said she went to her polling place to check and staff told her she could cast her vote.

“He swore vehemently that there would be no absence for me in the system,” she said.

She said she was confused about it, but was reassured by workers that there was no mail-in ballot for her, so she decided to vote in person.

O'Day said it was an accident.

“I'm 62 years old and I've never been in trouble in my life,” she said, adding that she would turn herself in. On the advice of her lawyer, she ended the conversation with a Votebeat reporter.

Kramer also hung up on a reporter. Kempkins could not be reached.

None of the assistant secretaries could be reached by Votebeat on Friday.

Double voting is extremely rare nationwide. Because there are so many safeguards, double voting typically occurs when voters cast ballots in two different states.

In Michigan, it is almost impossible to vote twice, and documented cases of the same voter casting multiple votes are extremely rare. The state conducted an audit in 2022 and found that in several elections, 99.99% of all ballots cast were non-duplicates.

Typically, voters who attempt to cast two ballots are stopped in two ways. First, an electronic poll book would indicate that a voter has already returned a mail-in ballot. Voters who verifiably received mail-in ballots must have those ballots invalidated before they can vote in person.

The second option is that if a mail-in ballot is received after someone has voted in person, that ballot should be rejected. The election inspector would be notified once they process the mail-in ballot.

Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini told Votebeat in August that this happened in St. Clair Shores, but workers defied the system. He could not be reached Friday but said in August that workers would not override the system in future elections.

In cases where a double voice penetrates the system, it can be discovered later, as was the case at St. Clair Shores. Clerk Abby Barrett told Votebeat in August that her team found it in printed reports from the qualified voter file, as well as in the paper trails for the ballots, that showed voters had signed both their in-person ballot application form at their polling place and theirs Postal voting.

Barrett could not be reached for comment on Friday.

In a statement Friday, Benson said anyone who attempts to vote more than once in an election will be caught and charged.

“We will closely monitor how the facts play out in this case,” she said. “But anyone who thinks they can get away with voter fraud in Michigan should know that we will not tolerate any attempt to interfere in our elections.”