Voting machine missing after Michigan clerk stripped of election power

Scott’s posts related to QAnon date to before the 2020 contest, in which she was also elected but ran unopposed. 

In July 2020, Scott shared a meme disputing that QAnon is a “cult,” instead describing it as a peaceful movement whose “sole weapons are logic & research.”

More recently, Scott in April again posted the “WWG1WGA” slogan while sharing a pro-Trump video that included tweets in which the former president falsely claimed the election was rigged by “suprise ballot dumps” in cities like Detroit. 

‘A tight ship’

Michigan’s Republican-led Senate Oversight Committee spent months investigating the 2020 election and found no evidence of widespread fraud. Instead, the committee debunked various conspiracy theories about the presidential election and said citizens “should be confident in the results.”

Kast, the Republican Hillsdale County clerk, said she is not active on Facebook and is not familiar with Scott’s posts or the QAnon conspiracy theory. 

She too has concerns about the 2020 election, Kast said, but those are limited to “large Democratic cities” that appeared to follow a “playbook” last year.

“In this county, there’s no concern,” Kast said. “I run a tight ship here.”

The Hillsdale County Republican Party supports Scott, according to Secretary Jon Smith, who said he is not sure whether the state actually had the authority to shift election authority to the county. 

If Scott suspects her voting machine is inaccurate or otherwise compromised, there should be some mechanism to investigate those fears, Smith told Bridge. 

“There’s not enough transparency, there’s not enough direction, there’s not enough understanding of how to do and go about it.”

Smith said he was unaware of Scott’s Facebook posts, telling Bridge Michigan he has “never followed” QAnon and considers it “a distraction.”

Because of the missing equipment now under investigation, Hillsdale County officials who will run next week’s Adams Township election used their own machine to conduct a ballot accuracy test in a public hearing Wednesday night. 

And that machine will be used to tabulate next week’s election, in which local voters will decide whether to renew a school operating millage, Kast said. 

Scott had ignored state requests to confirm she would sign off on the accuracy test, which is part of the reason the state stripped her of election administration responsibilities, according to Brater. 

But the sidelined clerk attended Wednesday night’s accuracy test and peppered Kast and County Deputy Clerk Abe Dane with questions about the tabulator, including whether it connected to the internet during elections. 

At one point, Kast warned Scott she would “have you removed by a sheriff’s deputy if you don’t stop interrupting.”

Dane assured Scott that tabulators can only connect to the internet after polls close to transmit unofficial results. He showed observers how the machine asks to connect after all ballots are counted and results are printed on a paper tape. 

“We tried to clear up some inaccuracies” about the voting equipment, Kast told Bridge on Thursday morning, acknowledging that Scott and other attendees appeared to remain skeptical. 

“We tried our best.”

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