Michigan Appeals Court dismisses criminal case against election worker

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- An election worker charged with falsifying election returns and using a computer to commit a crime could have received up to nine years in prison.

But the Michigan Court of Appeals on Thursday dismissed the case against James Donald Holkeboer. He was not employed by the county.

The alleged incident occurred after the primary election polls closed in Gaines Charter Township in August 2022. It was in the township's 8th Precinct, at Ada Bible Church on 68th Street. A witness reported seeing Holkeboer insert a USB flash drive into an Electronic Poll Book. That is the computer used to help administer the election.

Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker told WOOD Radio he will likely appeal the court's decision.

"Because it seems a bit troubling heading into a presidential election that we now seem to have a case that says an election worker can take information from an election computer and not be in violation of the law. I think it's definitely something we need to take a harder look at," he said.

After the alleged crime occurred, Kent County Clerk/Register of Deeds Lisa Posthumus Lyons called it - quote - "an extremely egregious and incredibly alarming” act.

The Electronic Poll Book holds confidential and personal information about all voters in a precinct. However, the poll book is not connected to any of the tabulation equipment or to the internet.

“The willful violation occurred after the files in the Electronic Poll Book were saved to the precinct’s authorized, encrypted system device, and that system device was placed in a certified, sealed container per standard procedure,” Lyons said in 2022, after the alleged incident was reported.

Becker was asked what the Court of Appeals based it decision upon.

"They kind of hinged it on the dictionary definition of words, and essentially that copying is not the same as removing. And that's probably the best thing, is that you just copy and that's really not removing or destroying it. So, ergo, it's not in violation of the law," he said.

Lyons said in 2022 the incident was in violation of public trust and the oath that election workers are required to take.

"It's always a concern," Becker said. "How do you keep an eye on all these election workers and what they may do. Because this is a flash drive, and everybody's got access to one of those. So, like I said, it's a troubling ruling and so I think there's probably a basis for an appeal, and we'll see what happens."

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