Michigan Alternate Electors Feel Vindication in Dismissal of Charges

Michigan Republicans who on Sept. 9 were cleared of fraud charges arising from the 2020 presidential election praised the judge who dismissed the case.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel had accused the Republicans of fraud and forgery for setting up an alternate slate of electors in an alleged attempt to swing Michigan’s Electoral College votes from President Joe Biden to then-candidate Donald Trump after the highly contentious presidential race.

Ingham County District Court Judge Kristen D. Simmons ruled on Sept. 9 that the 15 defendants will not face trial on the charges against them. Simmons dismissed the eight charges of fraud and forgery filed against each defendant.

Simmons said that the law requires the state to prove intent and that she did not believe there was “evidence sufficient to prove intent” of fraud. She said the evidence convinced her that the defendants truly believed they were following the law.

She drew chuckles in the courtroom when she pointed out that the defendants held a press conference announcing their plan to be alternate electors.

“I don’t know of anybody doing a press conference after they’ve committed a fraud,” Simmons said.

Simmons was appointed by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2019.

Nessel’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

The defendants say they were simply trying to protect Michiganders’ votes in the event the election was overturned and a recount was ordered.

Former defendant Meshawn Maddock, a past Michigan Republican Party co-chair, said she hopes the dismissal of the charges will vindicate them.

“We’ve been maligned for five years, and for two and a half years, I’ve been called a ‘fake elector,’” Maddock told The Epoch Times.

“I would love to know when someone in the media would now start printing a headline that says these ‘fake charges’ have been dismissed.”

Maddock and former Republican Party vice chair Marian Sheridan said they were following precedent from previous elections, notably the 1960 contest between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon, on the advice of the party’s lawyers.

“In case the election was overturned we wanted to be sure (Michigan) met the deadline to cast our votes,” Sheridan told The Epoch Times.

In the 1960 presidential election, Hawaii submitted an alternate slate of Democratic electors along with the Republican slate of electors because a state judge had ordered a recount. The initial count found that Nixon had won; the recount found that Kennedy had won.

Concerned that Hawaii could miss the deadline to submit its electors, Republican Lt. Gov. James Kealoha, the acting governor at the time, certified both slates of electors and sent them to Washington.

Nixon, as vice president presiding over the counting of the electoral votes, asked for the unanimous consent of Congress to select Hawaii’s later-certified slate, naming Kennedy as the winner.

Maddock said there was no attempt at anything underhanded in Michigan.

“It was a just-in-case scenario, and we said that publicly on a Facebook Live post, standing outside the capitol. We are just here to provide a document in case it’s needed,” Maddock said.

According to Simmons, evidence showed the defendants believed they were preparing for the possibility of Trump being declared the winner of the state after a challenge to the vote.

Sheridan said that although she is relieved the charges were dismissed, each defendant will be living with the case for many years.

She said there is an outstanding civil suit filed against the Republicans by three Democratic electors claiming they had been subjected to mental distress by the alternate slate. In addition, each defendant is facing thousands of dollars in legal fees.

Sheridan is convinced that the criminal charges were designed to intimidate Republican volunteers.

“I’m just so disappointed that something like this can happen in America. Any charge can be twisted into turning you into a criminal,” Sheridan said.

Maddock added that she is not convinced voter fraud had no impact on the 2020 election.

“I was one of the people at the TCF Center, witnessing them taping up cardboard boxes in front of the glass … to prevent our volunteers from getting in to serve as watchers. I had a first-hand view of the corruption of that election,” Maddock said.

Kent Vanderwood is the mayor of Wyoming, Michigan, and one of the former defendants. In a statement texted to The Epoch Times, he called the case “a partisan ploy to score political points.”

He expressed appreciation for Simmons’s “thorough and thoughtful approach” to the matter.

“I am glad to put this behind me, and I am glad the other electors can do the same,” Vanderwood wrote.