Michigan State Police has expanded an ongoing investigation into whether a third party gained unauthorized access to voting equipment data after the 2020 election.
State police added at least one new county to its investigation two weeks ago, seizing a voting tabulator machine in Irving Township, an hour west of Lansing, during an April 29 raid, local officials confirmed to MLive.
The state’s investigation launched in February when Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson asked MSP and Attorney General Dana Nessel to investigate whether a third party was allowed to access vote tabulator components and technology in Roscommon County in 2020.
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According to Benson’s office, at least one unnamed third party allegedly inappropriately accessed tabulation machines and data drives used in Richfield Township and Roscommon County in central Northern Michigan, an act punishable as a felony under state law.
Michigan State Police spokesperson Lt. Derrick Carroll confirmed that the state is still investigating the initial report from Roscommon County.
Carroll said the investigation has nothing to do with the results of the November 2020 election. The state is investigating whether a third party had access to election data after the presidential election took place, he said.
The MSP lieutenant declined to name any other municipalities that have since been added to the investigation.
“We have gone to other areas during the course of this investigation but, at this point, it is an open investigation and we’re not discussing areas we’ve been to, or how many areas we suspect or anything else for that matter,” Carroll told MLive. “All we are confirming at this point is that we are investigating the initial report in Roscommon.”
A spokesperson from the Michigan Attorney General’s office declined to comment.
Irving Township Supervisor Jamie Knight confirmed that state police seized the township’s voting tabulator pursuant to a search warrant on April 29.
“The township intends to fully cooperate with law enforcement and the township attorneys have been in contact with the Michigan State Police regarding this matter,” Knight told MLive in a prepared statement. She declined to comment further.
Barry County Clerk Pamela Palmer said she received a call from state police last week alerting her that the township’s voting tabulator was being seized, but she did not receive any explanation for the raid, she told MLive.
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