Schierkolk is tied to a network of *#activists* [#criminals] who have pushed several baseless #ConspiracyTheories about corruption in elections &, at times, advocated the hand-counting of ballots, apparently believing that electronic voting machines are insecure. #Trump & his allies spread the idea widely after his defeat in 2020, claiming, falsely, that the machines had changed the votes to #Biden.

#law #ElectionLaw #criminal #conspiracy #Vote #VoteBlue #HarrisWalz2024

In #Michigan, hand-counting is against the #law…. Experts believe voting machines are more reliable & faster than hand counts. Jonathan Brater, MI’s elections dir, said the clerk refused an order from the MI secretary of state to follow proper procedures.

Brater ordered Schierkolk & his deputy hand their #election duties to other ofcls “in order to ensure public trust & confidence in the integrity & security of elections” & their access to the state voter-roll system was shut off.

Angela Benander, a spox for the #Michigan SoS’s office, said, “It speaks to the efforts that we are not going to tolerate any attempts to circumvent the #law.”

Election ofcls across the country are worried about effectively an insider threat—that elected ofcls steeped in #Trump #disinformation could disrupt the process.

Already in MI, the state has taken over supervision of elections in Shelby Twp, where a #Republican clerk was charged w/a #felony for his role in the 2020 #FakeElectors scheme.

Elections & other local govt duties in Rock River, a town of ~1k people, have been transformed by #RightWing *activists* who have aggressively harassed the town’s leaders, acc/to Trevor Case, a fmr member of the town’s board of trustees whose wife, Maria Strand, preceded Schierkolk in the job. The activists frequently brought false #ConspiracyTheories about #election machines before Strand.

In April, Case, Strand & another employee, all #Democrats, resigned.

“We had had enough,” Case said.

In her resignation letter, Strand wrote of a peaceful town disrupted because “some individuals believe that it is OK to treat #CommunityService members with #disrespect, #slander, #libel, #stalking & many other forms of #harassment towards people who are just trying to make a difference for the good of the community we live in.”

#law #ElectionLaw #criminal #conspiracy #Vote #VoteBlue #HarrisWalz2024

The resignations ushered in new leadership, including Schierkolk, an *activist* with the local affiliate of the #RightWing group Stand Up #Michigan, which also works with a broader network of #ElectionDenial activists.

#law #ElectionLaw #criminal #conspiracy #disinformation #MediaLiteracy #Vote #VoteBlue #HarrisWalz2024
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/10/28/us/politics/inside-the-movement-behind-trumps-election-lies.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare