Michigan removes Upper Peninsula clerks from election duties over planned hand count

Associated Press

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan officials say two clerks in the Upper Peninsula have been removed from their election duties after expressing plans to conduct a hand count of votes in Tuesday’s election. In a letter Monday, the state’s Bureau of Elections director said that Rock River Clerk Tom Schierkolk and Deputy Clerk David LaMere are barred from administering elections until further notice. Brater’s letter says Michigan uses electronic voting machines to tabulate and a hand count would be unlawful. Research shows that hand counting is slower and more prone to errors than using electronic machine tabulators. Schierkolk says that the people of Rock River requested a hand count be conducted to verify the results tabulated by voting machines in order to “restore public trust in elections.”