Michigan clerk reports non-citizens in state voter records, calls for review

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MACOMB COUNTY, MI – The Macomb County Clerk is calling for the state to verify its voter registration records after reportedly finding evidence of some non-citizens voting in elections.

County Clerk Anthony Forlini, a Republican and former state legislator who is running for Michigan Secretary of State, raised the alarm this week after he said he discovered that non-U.S. citizens were being tapped for jury pools.

He said over a dozen then appeared in voter registration records.

In a Jan. 12 news release, Forlini said his office discovered the issue while selecting jury pools for the 16th Judicial Circuit Court. Forlini said 239 people appeared in jury pools who self-reported that they were not U.S. citizens.

After comparing the jury pool records with the state’s Qualified Voter File, Forlini’s office found that 14 of those people were registered to vote at some point, he said during a news conference this week, which was posted to his campaign Facebook page.

He said 10 people were still qualified to vote, and one record indicated possible participation in multiple elections.

“Macomb County is Michigan’s third largest county,” Forlini said in a statement. “The fact we have discovered this egregious flaw, indicates to me there may be a much larger issue throughout the State that needs investigation.”

The Michigan Department of State said the jury pool is drawn from the driver’s license database, not the voter database. Individuals who are legally present in the U.S. can get driver’s licenses or state IDs in Michigan, said department spokesperson Cheri Hardmon.

“Only U.S. citizens who are Michigan residents, are 18 years old by Election Day and are not currently serving a sentence in jail or prison can vote in Michigan elections,” Hardmon told MLive in an emailed statement. “The Michigan Department of State regularly investigates reports of voting fraud and will make referrals to law enforcement for further investigation if merited.”

Hardmon said the department of state has asked Forlini to reach out to the Bureau of Elections with any concerns about data in the Qualified Voter File.