LANSING, MI -- Multiple voters and election officials have been charged in connection with alleged double-voting and altering of voter records during the August 2024 primary election in St. Clair Shores. The voters are accused of submitting absentee ballots and then voting in-person during the primary, while the clerks allegedly altered the State Qualified Voter File to allow the double voting to happen.
Attorney General Dana Nessel announced charges Friday against Frank Prezzato, 68, Stacy Kramer, 56, Douglas Kempkins, Jr., 44, and Geneva O’Day, 62, all of St. Clair Shores. They are charged with one count each of voting absentee and in-person, and offering to vote more than once, both felonies.
Assistant Clerks Patricia Guciardo, 73, and Emily McClintock, 42, are both charged with one count of falsifying election returns or records, one count of voting absentee and in person, and one count of offering to vote more than once. Assistant Clerk Molly Brasure, 31, is charged with two counts each of falsifying election returns or records, voting absentee and in person, and offering to vote more than once.
“Despite common talking points by those who seek to instill doubt in our electoral process, double voting in Michigan is extremely rare. There are procedures in place to ensure this does not happen and that is why it so rarely does. It took a confluence of events and decisions to allow these four people to double vote,” Nessel said. “Nevertheless, the fact that four incidents occurred in a municipality of this size raised significant concerns and is simply unheard of.”
Nessel alleges that Prezzato, Kramer, Kempkins, and O’Day each appeared in person at their local polling location during the primary and requested ballots, but were informed by election workers that their absentee ballots had already been received. Although the election workers determined the absentee ballots had already been received by the clerk, they were allegedly instructed by Guciardo, McClintock, and Brasure to override the system and issue the in-person ballots.
The absentee ballots were marked in the system as rejected, rather than received according to Nessel’s office. The four voters are accused of then submitting the ballots, which were counted along with their absentee ballots resulting in double-voting.
The matter was brought to the attention of Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini following the primary and was also shared with the St. Clair Shores Police Department and the state Bureau of Elections. The Michigan Department of State referred the matter to Nessel’s office on Aug. 15.
The next day, Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido’s office announced it would also investigate the matter and determine if charges were necessary, while Nessel’s office continued with its own investigation.
Lucido eventually announced later in August that his office would not be filing criminal charges, however Nessel’s office says it found enough probable cause to bring charges against the accused. Nessel’s office says it reviewed voting records and police reports regarding the matter, while also reviewing the Qualified Voter File for timestamped change.
Nessel’s office also conducted interviews with the assistant clerks accused in the matter, as well as elections inspectors, the St. Clair Shores city clerk, and Michigan’s Director of Elections.
“My office has been committed to pursuing, investigating and, when necessary, charging, cases of election fraud, and have done so when the evidence provides for criminal charges,” said Nessel. “Election integrity matters, and we must take these violations seriously in order to ensure we can trust the results on the other end.”
While the charges were brought against the defendants in 40th District Court, the defendants have not yet been arraigned on those charges. A date for those arraignments was not announced by Nessel’s office.
The charge of voting absentee and in-person carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, as does the charge of falsifying election returns or records.