Summary

Informing Democracy reviewed members of Michigan’s 407 Boards of Canvassers and County Clerks to identify individuals who could pose a threat to free and fair elections. We looked for statements or actions that indicated election denial, attempts to subvert election administration or undermine the faith in the system, and the sharing of election conspiracy theories, and other antidemocratic sentiments.

Concerning findings do not mean an official will seek to undermine the next election, just as a lack of findings is not a guarantee an official will faithfully execute their duties. This research provides guidance on where attention should be focused to ensure that elections are administered properly according to the law. Notably, research showed that the vast majority of local election officials are dedicated public servants, committed to running free and fair elections.

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By the Numbers: Of the 407 officials whose news mentions, social media, and official actions were reviewed, 51 had findings that raised concern—more than 12%.

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Counties of Concern

Thirteen counties pose concern for fair election administration this November due to the willingness of officials to subvert election administration or entertain and potentially act on conspiracy theories.

• Wayne County: Robert Boyd, a member of Wayne County’s Board of Canvassers, was an election denier who said he would not have certified the 2020 election if he had been a canvasser at the time. (Though in 2022, he acknowledged that canvassers could not overturn results and said he would follow the rules.) His counterpart on the Board of Canvassers, Katherine Riley, was also an election denier and even led trainings for the Election Integrity Network in Michigan.
• Alcona County: Jeffrey Dobbs and Jaynee Germond, members of the Alcona County Board of Canvassers, were both election deniers and platformed election conspiracy theories. Dobbs claimed that Joe Biden did not receive 81 million votes and that voting machines used in the 2020 election were connected to the internet; she also stated that “a Democrat operative ran [sic] election from his Hyatt Regency hotel room.” Germond claimed Trump did not lose the 2020 election and that dead people voted.
• Allegan County: Steven McNeal, Allegan County’s Clerk, platformed election conspiracy theories on his social media. He wrote that “the obvious goal of a partisan impeachment is to steal two elections from the American people.” He also claimed that Monkeypox was “the liberal’s [sic] latest transparent attempt to cheat the November elections.” Robert Genetski, a member of the Allegan County Board of Canvassers, wrote on social media after watching election conspiracy film “2000 Mules” that “exposing and ending corrupt elections is the single most important thing we can do to save our democracy.” Genetski also shared a story from The Epoch Times claiming that “CIA Directors Altered Election.”
• Bay County: Tracey Armstrong and Ann Weiler, members of the Bay County Board of Canvassers, both denied the results of the 2020 election. Armstrong shared a claim Biden “rigged the 2020 election” and “got caught” and cast doubt on elections in Arizona because there was a “95 mile long Trump parade in Maricopa County just before they voted Democrat for the first time in over 70 years.” Weiler posted an image that read, “Ignoring evidence of election fraud because the election is already over is like ignoring a murder because the victim is already dead.” She also endorsed Matt Sealy, a plaintiff in Trump’s federal lawsuit to block Michigan’s election results in 2020.
• Benzie County: County Board of Canvassers member Maurenn Jeannot defended Rep. Jack Bergman’s efforts to overturn election results in 2020, claiming he “stood up for election integrity.” She later claimed, “I fear that if we don’t elect people like Jack Bergman, we won’t have a country left to salvage by 2024.” Gary Gielczyk compared the “Big Lie” to claims made by Hillary Clinton and Stacey Abrams in the wake of electoral losses and argued that expanded mail-in voting would lead to increased fraud. He also endorsed Rep. Bergman for reelection.
• Calhoun County: Ginger Kamps, a member of the Calhoun County Board of Canvassers, platformed anti-democracy content, including an upside down American flag the day Mar-A-Lago was raided, and indicated support for Trump during his attempts to overturn the 2020 election results. Bonnie Kazmar, Kamps’ fellow GOP Canvasser in Calhoun County, called for the 2020 election to be decertified and for a 50-state audit in October 2021. Kazmar shared election conspiracy theories and compared Joe Biden to Adolph Hitler.
• Charlevoix County: Asuka Barden and April Raycraft, members of the Charlevoix County Board of Canvassers, shared election conspiracies on social media. Barden, who managed the campaign of Neil Friske, an election denier, claimed Democrats were signing up as GOP election inspectors. Raycraft claimed there was fraud and corruption in Michigan’s 2020 election and shared a post from Donald Trump about a suspicious ballot “dump” overnight in the state.
• Dickinson County: Pamela Trask, a member of the Dickinson County Board of Canvassers, was an election denier and had hoped to be in Washington, DC on January 6th. On her website, she wrote, “We are asked to believe that a demented Joe Biden won more votes than any candidate in history.” In the aftermath of January 6, she wrote, “The cowardice of our elected representatives who overlook obvious fraud, plug their ears, don’t want to deal with the messy details, and bend and break rules to achieve their desired outcome means they have failed the nation, all of them, from Mike Pence down both sides of the aisle.” Carlene Kaverlaris, Trask’s fellow canvasser in Dickinson County, cast doubt on the security of Michigan’s elections, claiming that Prop 2 would “make us highly vulnerable to voter fraud.”
• Kalkaska County: Kalkaska County Clerk Deborah Hill was an election denier who shared conspiracies about Michigan’s vote counts and calls for an audit and re-vote. Hill also shared a claim there was a conspiracy around the Capitol storming on January 6. Patty Cox, a member of the Board of Canvassers, shared a claim that Trump was the rightful president and called Biden a “fake president.”
• Kalamazoo County: Board of County Canvasser member Tony Lorentz refused to say if Joe Biden won Michigan’s 2020 election. Initially, he would not commit to certifying future elections, and that it “depends how they look.” Fellow Board of County Canvasser member Robert Froman said he “most definitely” believed the 2020 election was stolen and said he would not certify the 2024 election if it unfolded like 2020. (Froman signed a sworn affidavit promising fulfill his legal obligation to certify the 2024 election following a lawsuit from the ACLU).
• Macomb County: County Clerk Anthony Forlini said in August 2021 he “can’t tell you” whether the election was fair and successfully pursued a “forensic audit” of the county’s election results that showed no outside interference. This audit was celebrated by election deniers. He also hired, then defended hiring, a January 6 attendee who encouraged rioters to “storm the gates” to a position to train poll workers. Nancy Tiseo, a canvasser, was an election denier who claimed she was working to challenge the results in Michigan and Georgia. She urged Trump not to concede and to invoke the Insurrection Act.
• St. Clair County: Deem Bolydreff, a member of the St. Clair County Board of Canvassers, trafficked in election conspiracies about voter fraud, claiming that undocumented immigrants were illegally voting with Democrats’ support. Barry Mugridge, another member of the St. Clair County Board of Canvassers, argued for the elimination of vote-counting machines and the need to hand count all ballots. He claimed there was “malfeasance going on” with voting machines and that election results were unreliable.
• Tuscola County: Isaac White, a member of the Tuscola County Board of Canvassers, shared election conspiracy theories on social media. Doug Lagos, another member of the Tuscola board, was an election denier who claimed that “the radical Democrats are stealing the election from President Trump and they are doing it in plain sight.”