Sept 28 (Reuters) – An election employee in a western Michigan city has been charged with two felonies after allegedly inserting a flash drive into a pc containing confidential voter registration knowledge throughout an election in August, native officers mentioned on Wednesday.

On the Aug. 2 main, an election employee was seen inserting a USB drive into the pc used to manage the election at a precinct in Gaines Township in Kent County, in keeping with an announcement by county clerk Lisa Posthumus Lyons.

The incident highlights the so-called “insider risk” threat that has more and more frightened election officers, particularly in battleground states like Michigan the place falsehoods about systemic voter fraud within the 2020 election have unfold most generally.

“This incident is extraordinarily egregious and extremely alarming. Not solely is it a violation of Michigan legislation, however it’s a violation of public belief and of the oath all election employees are required to take,” Lyons mentioned within the assertion.

Chris Becker, the county’s prosecuting lawyer, mentioned he had charged the election employee, James Donald Holkeboer, with falsifying election data and utilizing a pc to commit against the law. If convicted, he may resist 9 years in jail.

Holkeboer couldn’t be instantly reached for remark.

Whereas Lyons didn’t title Holkeboer, she mentioned the incident concerned one of many “on a regular basis residents skilled and authorized by clerks to work the precincts and absentee county boards” and was not an worker of the county or Gaines Township.

The election employee was seen by a witness at a precinct in Gaines Township inserting a USB drive into the Digital Ballot Guide, the pc used to manage the election. The ballot e-book comprises voter registration knowledge, together with confidential data barred from launch below Michigan legal guidelines.

Lyons mentioned the breach didn’t impression the result of the August main because it occurred after the information had already been saved to the precinct’s encrypted system. She mentioned the ballot e-book will not be linked to any tabulation gear or the web.

There have been a sequence of safety breaches associated to voting gear in Michigan following the 2020 presidential election, with supporters of former President Donald Trump and his baseless claims about widespread voter fraud in search of entry to tabulators in numerous areas within the state.

Final month, Lawyer Basic Dana Nessel, a Democrat, appointed a particular prosecutor to supervise the legal investigation her workplace had kicked off into the safety breaches. She sought to step again from the probe as a result of her Republican challenger in November’s election, Matt DePerno, was among the many 9 people dealing with potential expenses.

A spokesperson for Michigan’s Secretary of State mentioned the breached gear in Gaines Township has been decommissioned and won’t be used within the November basic election.

“Whereas our elections stay safe and protected, we take significantly all violations of election legislation and can proceed to work with the related authorities to guarantee there are penalties for many who break the legislation,” Angela Benander mentioned in an emailed assertion.

Reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; Enhancing by Christopher Cushing

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