(Headline USA) State police seized a voting machine in a western Michigan township as part of an investigation into the results of the 2020 election, according to local reports.
One tabulator was confiscated in Irving Township on Friday, said Barry County Clerk Pamela Palmer. The machine had been reportedly breached after the election, Palmer claimed.
Earlier this year, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson asked the state’s attorney general and the state police to investigate reports of an “unnamed third party” gaining unauthorized access to voting technology in Roscommon County. The investigation then expanded to other counties, said Michigan State Police Lt. Derrick Carroll.
“If we find more examples of unauthorized access, we talk to those officials to find out what transpired,” Carroll said.
At least one third party allegedly gained access to tabulation machines in Richfield Township and Roscommon County, Benson’s office claimed. These breached “may have exposed the machines to vulnerabilities that render them unusable in future elections,” she said.
“Protecting the integrity and security of our elections, especially from those who use lies and misinformation to deceive Michigan voters, is a critical component of defending democracy in this moment,” Benson said in the statement at the time.
“Michigan law is clear about the security threats that emerge when anyone gains unauthorized access to our election machines or technology, and I will have no tolerance for those who seek to illegally tamper with our voting equipment.”
Benson and other state Democrat officials have tried to prevent groups associated with former President Donald Trump from accessing state voting machines and running audits into the election’s results.
She slammed efforts to audit Antrim County’s results, for example, even after it was revealed the county’s machines wrongly flipped many votes from Trump to President Joe Biden.
