GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — Prosecutors lost a final appeal Friday in the case of a Michigan election worker who put a USB flash drive into an electronic poll book and downloaded the names of voters in 2022.
The Michigan Supreme Court declined to take an appeal. The decision means a state appeals court ruling will stand and the case against James Holkeboer will be dismissed.
Holkeboer was charged with election fraud in Kent County. The appeals court, however, said his conduct was improper but not a crime.
“The prosecution had to demonstrate that Holkeboer fraudulently removed or secreted the election list of voters such that the information was no longer available or altered,” the appeals court said in April.
“Here, no evidence was presented that election information was altered or made unavailable” to election officials, the court said.
Holkeboer's acts did not affect the results of the 2022 primary election. He was working at a polling place in Gaines Township, south of Grand Rapids, for the first time.
Holkeboer, a Republican, told investigators that he downloaded information about voters because he wanted to compare it to lists he was seeking under a public records request.
“Our citizens deserve to have faith in their elections and those who work them. I’m very disappointed the Michigan Supreme Court declined to hear this case," said Lisa Posthumus Lyons, who oversees elections in Kent County.