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Story · July 18, 2023

Michigan Charges 16 in False-Electors Case

By The Daily Fuckup Newsroom · From the July 18, 2023 edition

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Correction: This article has been updated to clarify that the attorney general announced felony charges on July 18, 2023, and that the conduct described remains an allegation. A prosecution affidavit later said the documents were mailed on January 5, 2021.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced felony charges on July 18, 2023 against 16 people accused of taking part in Michigan’s false-electors effort tied to the 2020 presidential race. Prosecutors say the group signed certificates falsely identifying themselves as the state’s “duly elected and qualified electors” for Donald Trump, even though Joe Biden had won Michigan by 154,188 votes.

According to the attorney general’s office, each defendant faces multiple felony counts, including conspiracy to commit forgery, forgery, conspiracy to commit uttering and publishing, uttering and publishing, conspiracy to commit election law forgery, and election law forgery. The case is still an allegation, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

The paperwork at the center of the case was mailed on January 5, 2021 to the U.S. Senate and the National Archives, according to later prosecution materials. That came after Michigan had certified its 2020 presidential results and after the state’s official electors cast their votes on December 14, 2020.

State officials said the false certificates were part of an effort to replace Michigan’s lawful Electoral College slate with a different one. The charging announcement put Michigan among the states pursuing criminal cases over alternate-elector documents used after Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.

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