Protestors demand removal of insurrection attendee who works for Macomb County Clerk's Office
MT. CLEMENS, Mich. (FOX 2) - Some Macomb County residents want a woman who attended the Capitol insurrection and denied the results of the 2020 presidential election to be removed from her role at the clerk's office.
Genevieve Peters works with departments to train them, Clerk Anthony Forlini said. She has also helped recruit poll workers.
"She is in a sensitive position she should not be in. This completely undermines the integrity of our elections," said civil rights attorney Huwaida Arraf.
Macomb County Commissioner Antoinette Wallace said she has taken several calls from concerned citizens.
"People are nervous that their ballots won’t be truly counted. That was yesterday I received that phone call, ‘I turned in my absentee ballot, but I really don’t think it’s going to be counted, I don’t think my vote matters,’ and that’s a concern," Wallace said.
Forlini is defending Peters.
"They don’t know Genevieve Peters. Genevieve has been an excellent employee," he said. "She doesn’t work for elections, she works for the register of deeds, she works with all the different departments that we have. Keep in mind we only have four employees in the elections department, but I think some of those concerns are unfounded."
He said Peters' views from 1 ½ ago don't impact her job.
"There is no concern. First off, she is not in elections. Even if she was, who better to have than someone who is concerned about elections and concerned if the elections are done properly? I can tell you Genevieve has been an excellent employee and is all about election integrity and that’s what I’m all about," Forlini said.
Protestors don't think Forlini's support is enough to quell worries.
"Maybe she should come out and support him as much as he has supported her and say, ‘I apologize,’ or ‘I was wrong,’ or maybe she doesn’t feel like she was wrong in any way, but I think we should hear that because, like I said, voters are nervous," Wallace said.