Three Michigan residents have been charged with voter fraud involving absentee ballots by state officials, which follows a concerning trend over the past decade.
State Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) alleges Trenae Myesha Rainey submitted two dozen absentee voter applications on behalf of an unknowing Father Murray Nursing Home resident in Macomb County. According to prosecutors, the Centerline clerk “noticed the application signatures didn’t match those in the Qualified Voter File,” WWMT reported.
“Investigators determined Rainey, a faculty employee, did not contact the residents, and filled out the applications herself, forging the residents’ signatures on each one.”
Cops allege Rainey also made decisions for the residents about voting by absentee ballot “without discussion.”
Rainey faces three counts of election law forgery (five-year felonies), and three counts of forging a signature on absentee ballot applications (also five-year felonies) in Macomb County.
Nancy Juanita Williams faces a bevy of charges after she allegedly sought over a dozen ballots for incapacitated individuals under her care.
The Detroit Free Press said Williams faces 14 counts related to absentee ballot fraud, including:
- In 46th District Court in Southfield, six counts of election law forgery, six counts of forging a signature on an absentee ballot application, and six counts of making a false statement in an absentee ballot application. The forgery charges are five-year felonies.
- In 28th District Court in Southgate, one count of forging a signature on an absentee ballot application, one count of election law forgery, and one count of making a false statement on an absentee ballot application.
- In 17th District Court in Redford Township, two counts of election law forgery, two counts of forging a signature on an absentee ballot application, and two counts of making false statements in absentee ballot applications.
- In 18th District Court in Westland, three counts of election law forgery, three counts of forging a signature on an absentee ballot application, and three counts of making a false statement on an absentee ballot application.
- In 29th District Court in the city of Wayne, two counts of election law forgery, two counts of forging a signature on an absentee ballot application, and two counts of making a false statement on an absentee ballot application.
“Ms. Williams has never acted outside of her scope as a guardian and at all times has adhered to election laws,” Williams’s attorney, Andrea Bradley, told the paper.
Carless Clark was “charged with impersonating another to vote and election law forgery after she was alleged to have signed and returned her grandson’s mail-in ballot despite his decision to vote in person,” according to the Detroit News.
Clark allegedly signed an absentee ballot application on behalf of her grandson after she thought he would not be able to vote in person. He did, triggering a double-vote, in person and by mail.
After the charges, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson (D) insisted “Our election system is secure.”
However, the latest example demonstrates a concerning trend in Michigan elections. Earlier this year, Paul Parana of Canton was charged after he forged his daughter’s signature on an absentee ballot in the 2020 General Election.
According to the Heritage Foundation, more than a dozen individuals have been charged with various forms of voter fraud in the past decade.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Ballot Worker” by Phil Roeder. CC BY 2.0.
