Michigan boots MAGA election officials over ballot hand count scheme

The state of Michigan has stripped two local officials of their duties overseeing the 2024 election after they insisted on doing a hand count of ballots that likely would have delayed reporting the results from their town.

The New York Times reports that Tom Schierkolk, the clerk of Rock River Township in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and his deputy, David LaMere, were relieved of their duties because they wanted to conduct a hand count of ballots before sending them off to the county canvass.

Jonathan Brater, Michigan’s elections director, informed Schierkolk and LaMere that doing an initial hand count of ballots is against state law and he accused the two men of blowing off requests from the Michigan Secretary of State's office to follow proper procedures.

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The officials were removed amid fears that Trump allies suspicious of vote counting machines could gum up the works and cause chaos in the days after the election on November 5th.

"Schierkolk is tied to a network of activists who have pushed several baseless theories about corruption in elections and, at times, advocated the hand-counting of ballots, apparently believing that electronic voting machines are insecure," writes the Times. "Donald J. Trump and his allies spread the idea widely after his defeat in 2020, claiming, falsely, that the machines had changed the votes to Joseph R. Biden Jr."