Michigan clerks call to reverse election fraud case dismissal

Michigan election officials are urging the state’s highest court to overturn a decision in favor of an election worker who was charged with committing fraud in the 2022 primary election.

A previous ruling had found James Holkeboer, a Kent County election inspector, violated state election law when he inserted a personal USB flash drive into an electronic poll book with the intent to download the names of voters.

In April, the Michigan Court of Appeals dismissed the original charges after concluding that none of the original files that Holkeboer had copied were damaged or destroyed in any way.

“The act of copying a list of voters without affecting the integrity of the document or election is not, at least at present, prohibited,” stated the appeal’s court opinion.

Now, a bipartisan group of 28 state election officials are asking the Michigan Supreme Court to review the decision.

“What if someone inserted a thumb drive, and it has a virus on it? And then suddenly, no other voters can be registered or can be marked as voting in the precinct,” said Lansing Clerk Chris Swope, who has joined other clerks in filing an amicus brief Monday.

“It’s pretty frightening what could happen.”

The group’s court filing, which was crafted alongside legal advocates with the Public Rights Project, claims vacating the case is setting a precedent that keeps election workers like Holkeboer from being held accountable for their actions.

“Clerks throughout Michigan and across the country are very careful about how they run their elections,” said Public Rights Project CEO Jonathan Miller. “They want to make sure that if election workers don’t follow the rules, that there’s accountability, because that’s absolutely necessary to ensure that there’s trust among the public and to make sure that voting rights are protected.”

Attorney Chip Chamberlain, who is representing Holkeboer in the case, argues the state’s statute does not prohibit someone from copying public records.

“The clerks are understandably concerned,” said Chamberlain. “But their grievance should go to the legislature, not the court.”

The Michigan Supreme Court is expected to hear oral arguments later this summer to decide whether it will review the Kent County prosecutor’s appeal of the case.