Southfield City Clerk indicted on felony charges
Quote:
https://tinyurl.com/y5by8327
Detroit — Southfield City Clerk Sherikia L. Hawkins was charged Monday with six felony counts over "unauthorized and inaccurate" changes to absentee ballots in the November 2018 election.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson made a joint announcement of the charges in Detroit, calling it a "rare" case.
"Voting is fundamental to the very essence of our democracy," Nessel said during a Monday news conference. "It is incumbent upon state governments to safeguard the electoral process and ensure that every voter's right to cast a ballot is protected."
Sherikia L. Hawkins [[Photo: Michigan State Police)
Allegations that Hawkins altered 193 absentee voter records came to light during the 14-day canvass following the election. Benson said the Oakland County Clerk’s Office reported with the Bureau of Elections "the potential for these irregularities and from there we began our investigation."
Hawkins' alleged actions, did not alter the outcome of any election, Benson stressed, and "there were no voters that were disenfranchised."
"All valid votes in the election were ultimately counted and the final official vote total was accurate," Benson said.
This has very bad optics for the city of Southfield. The accused is the first black City Clerk for Southfield, and, according to the story, had no prior history of controversy. There will probably be racialized reactions, based in part of the race of the attorney general and secretary of state, as well as lingering public discussion on alleged government malfeasance at the hands of current and former public officials in Michigan [[e.g., Duggan, Snyder).
