+

Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.

Close
HomeQuizzoneWhatsappShare Flash Reads
 

Trump's supporters tried to breach Michigan voting systems 11 times in an attempt to prove his baseless stolen election claims: report

Jun 7, 2022, 14:45 IST
Business Insider
The 11 incidents that occurred in Michigan were part of a larger count of 17 breaches being investigated across the US.JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images
  • Trump's supporters tried to breach voting systems in Michigan in 11 incidents, Reuters reported.
  • They tried to gain unauthorized access to equipment to prove Trump's baseless voter fraud claims.
Advertisement

Supporters of former President Donald Trump tried to gain unauthorized access — sometimes successfully — to voting equipment in 11 incidents across Michigan, Reuters reported, citing state police documents.

The outlet wrote that the state has been investigating incidents involving local election systems that Republican officials and pro-Trump activists breached in an attempt to prove Trump's baseless claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.

The investigation has grown to a stage where Michigan state police have obtained warrants to seize voting equipment and records in three towns and one county, per Reuters.

The outlet reported that it had seen police records detailing how several of these breaches occurred: One official reportedly gave two vote-counting tabulators to an unauthorized, unidentified "third party" who kept them for weeks in early 2021, while a county clerk told investigators she also gave her equipment to unauthorized parties.

Jocelyn Benson, Michigan's Democratic secretary of state, told Reuters that the state is currently investigating if the 11 incidents were coordinated and would "seek accountability for all involved." Michigan is a crucial battleground state for elections, which President Joe Biden won in 2020.

Advertisement

The 11 incidents in Michigan are part of a larger count of 17 breaches being investigated across the US, per Reuters, which previously reported similar incidents in Colorado and North Carolina.

In the Colorado case, a clerk copied voting data from a server onto two hard drives and gave them to lawyers, per the outlet. Meanwhile, the North Carolina incident involved a local GOP leader threatening to fire an election official if she didn't give him unauthorized access to voting systems.

According to Reuters, Trump won in all the Michigan counties where the 11 breaches occurred. The results were certified by 250 post-election audits carried out by the Bureau of Elections.

However, per Reuters, pro-Trump activists and officials wanted to prove that the former president won by a larger margin in these areas.

You are subscribed to notifications!
Looks like you've blocked notifications!
Next Article