SOUTHFIELD, Michigan (Reuters) – Two election officials in a small Michigan town have been stripped of their duties overseeing Tuesday’s U.S. presidential election after they vowed to go ahead with a plan to hand count already tabulated ballots in an alleged violation of state law.
Tom Schierkolk and David LaMere, the clerk and deputy clerk in Rock River Township, were ordered by Michigan Bureau of Elections Director Jonathan Brater to refrain from administering the vote, according to a letter from Brater dated Oct. 28.
The development highlights lingering distrust of voting equipment among some officials following years of falsehoods by Republican former president Donald Trump about their integrity, including his claim without evidence that he lost in 2020 because they were rigged.
It also comes with election officials in Michigan and other battleground states on edge ahead of what polls indicate is a tight race between Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. Pro-democracy advocates have warned that some local Republican officials, including those on canvassing boards in parts of Michigan, could try to hold up certification if Trump loses.
Brater made the decision after Schierkolk said that he intended to conduct a hand count of ballots already scanned through an electric tabulator, instead of placing them in sealed containers in preparation for the county canvass.
In his letter, Brater said those actions would be “contrary to law, interfere with the integrity of the election process, undermine the county canvass, and jeopardize the ability of candidates to request a recount.” LaMere also intended to go along with the unlawful plan, Brater wrote.
Neither Schierkolk nor LaMere responded to requests for comment. In an Oct. 25 letter to Brater, Schierkolk claimed that a handcount was legal and that no law existed preventing him from verifying the accuracy of the election as he saw fit.
Rock River is a small town of about 1,200 people in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It is located in Alger County, which Trump carried in 2020 with about 59% of the vote.
A local pastor, Schierkolk ascribes to the view that an originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution negates county, state, and federal authority over elections, according to Teri Grout, town supervisor of Rock River.
Rock River Deputy Treasurer Wilma Hill, a former clerk with experience overseeing elections, has been designated to oversee the Nov. 5 vote, Grout said.
In his letter to Schierkolk, Brater warned that failure to comply with the state’s orders was a criminal misdemeanor offense.
(Reporting by Nathan Layne; Editing by Scott Malone and Bill Berkrot)
