Voting machine missing after Michigan clerk stripped of election power

[essentialsaltes]

LANSING — Michigan State Police launched a criminal investigation Thursday after election equipment at the center of a voting tabulator conspiracy theory went missing this week in a rural, conservative community.

Adams Township Clerk Stephanie Scott, a Republican whose social media has included █████ memes, had refused to allow a vendor to conduct routine maintenance on a Hart Intercivic Inc. voting machine.

In a rare move, the Michigan Bureau of Elections this week stripped Scott of her election administration authority, accusing the first-term clerk of refusing to fulfill her “legal responsibilities” and spreading misinformation about the tabulators used in Hillsdale County.

The first-term Adams Township clerk, who took office this year, did not respond to a voicemail or follow-up text message about her Facebook posts, including █████ logos she appeared to delete this week.

But █████ references remain sprinkled throughout her Facebook profile, including posts alleging ███████████████ and several that include ██████████████████████████████████████.

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.

 

[essentialsaltes]

LANSING — Michigan State Police launched a criminal investigation Thursday after election equipment at the center of a voting tabulator conspiracy theory went missing this week in a rural, conservative community.

Adams Township Clerk Stephanie Scott, a Republican whose social media has included █████ memes, had refused to allow a vendor to conduct routine maintenance on a Hart Intercivic Inc. voting machine.

Adams Township supervisor, clerk ousted in recall election​

Voters in Adams Township turned out in force Tuesday, May 2, to weigh in on a recall bid against the township supervisor and clerk, who gained national media attention over election integrity concerns since October 2021.

Challengers Randy Johnson and Suzy Roberts won decisive victories against Supervisor Mark Nichols and Clerk Stephanie Scott, respectively, according to unofficial election results.

That controversy [over the 2020 election] escalated when Scott was given until Oct. 27, 2021, to turn over the township’s ballot tabulator after it was discovered it was missing. She did not comply with the demand, resulting in the Michigan State Police obtaining a search warrant to seize the device from Adams Township Hall in early November 2021.