Voter fraud investigation underway in St. Clair Shores

ST. CLAIR SHORES, Mich. (FOX 2) - Four people are accused of voting twice at Precincts 7, 15 and 16 in St. Clair Shores, sparking an investigation.

"We’re not going to put up with it," said Macomb County Clerk Anthony Forlini. "If there’s definitely fraud involved they’ll be prosecuted."

Forlini says the voters cast absentee ballots — then showed up to vote a second time in person.

He says the system originally flagged the double voting — but it was overridden by election volunteers

"The proper protocol would be for the clerk to be notified, the local clerk," he said. "And that clerk would look into the situation before they moved forward. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen."

Forlini says once the local clerk did find out, she immediately brought the matter to Forlini, Prosecutor Pete Lucido and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson.

Benson released a statement saying:

"I’m grateful to the Macomb County Clerk for ensuring that voter fraud is rare and that when it happens, we catch it and prosecute it to the fullest extent of the law.

"He followed the proper protocols and the matter has been referred to the attorney general for further investigation and potential criminal charges."

Forlini said security has been a top priority in Macomb County.

"I spent the last almost four years looking into potential holes in the system," he said. "We’re the only county in the state that did a forensic audit of our servers. We’ve come up with new protocols that make elections safer than ever. So any little thing I see, we’re going to shine the light of day on it."

As to why these voters tried to vote twice and who they voted for — it’s all under investigation.