Five out of seven double voting criminal cases in the August 2024 primary in St. Clair Shores have been dismissed, but the Michigan Attorney General’s Office is appealing the rulings to a higher court, including the Michigan Court of Appeals in four of the cases.
The most recent dismissal came Aug. 6 in the case against Douglas Kempkens Jr., a voter who was charged with one count each of voting absentee and in-person and offering to vote more than once. Macomb County Circuit Judge Joseph Toia dismissed and closed the case. A claim of appeal was filed this week with the state appellate court, according to a check Aug. 21 of online court records.
“I think in my 45 years of practicing law, it is one of the most ridiculous prosecutions I’ve ever seen in my career,” Kempkens’ attorney, Stephen Rabaut, said after Kempkens’ case was dismissed. “Nobody was intending to violate any law. And it’s unfortunate that any one of them was prosecuted … They made mistakes. They’re not criminals.”
AG Spokesman Danny Wimmer indicated in an Aug. 15 email: “Maintaining free and fair elections is predicated on the premise that citizens can cast their ballot once and only once per election. To allow some people to vote twice makes a mockery of our electoral systems.”
He indicated the office was evaluating its appellate options after recent dismissals.
The voters were accused of committing election fraud when they sent in an absentee ballot and still voted in person at the polls, Attorney General Dana Nessel said at a news conference announcing the charges in October. The election workers were accused of knowing of the voters’ absentee ballots — an electronic voter information tracking system informed them — and letting 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.
In March, a St. Clair Shores district court judge dismissed charges against Molly Brasure, one of three election workers accused in the case, and Geneva O’Day, one of four voters accused in the matter. The AG’s Office appealed to the Circuit Court.
On July 29, Circuit Judge Matthew Sabaugh denied the appeal against Brasure and affirmed the district court’s order of dismissal, closing her case. But this week, Brasure’s case showed up in a search of Michigan Court of Appeals records.
The appeal in O’Day’s case is before Circuit Judge Jennifer Faunce, who is taking the matter under advisement after oral arguments June 23 and July 21, according to Circuit Court records.
Brasure was charged with two counts each of voting absentee and in-person; offering to vote more than once, and falsifying returns/records. O’Day was charged with one count each of voting absentee and in-person and offering to vote more than once.
In December, charges were dismissed against the other two election workers, Emily McClintock and Patricia Guciardo, in 40th District Court in St. Clair Shores. The AG’s Office appealed to the Circuit Court, where in May, Toia affirmed the lower court’s order, closing the cases. Later in May, the AG’s Office filed applications for leave to appeal with the Michigan Court of Appeals in both cases.
Charges remain against Stacey Kramer in Macomb County Circuit Court, where an evidentiary hearing and pretrial conference are set for Aug. 29 before Judge James Maceroni, according to court records. Like Kempkens, Kramer and Frank Prezzato, both voters, were charged with one count each of voting absentee and in-person, and offering to vote more than once. Prezzato has a pretrial conference Sept. 3 before Circuit Judge Anthony Servitto.
The charges were filed by Nessel after County Prosecutor Peter Lucido declined to charge the voters, stating in an August 2024 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: @challreporter.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan Attorney General’s Office appealing dismissed cases in alleged double voting
Reporting by Christina Hall, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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