Michigan Attorney General charges 16 'false electors' with election law and forgery charges

The Michigan Attorney General has announced charges against 16 Michigan residents for their role in the alleged false electors scheme following the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

All 16 face various forgery related charges and could each spend up to 66 years in prison if convicted on all the charges.

“The false electors’ actions undermined the public’s faith in the integrity of our elections and, we believe, also plainly violated the laws by which we administer our elections in Michigan,” said Attorney General Dana Nessel. "My department has prosecuted numerous cases of election law violations throughout my tenure, and it would be malfeasance of the greatest magnitude if my department failed to act here in the face of overwhelming evidence of an organized effort to circumvent the lawfully cast ballots of millions of Michigan voters in a presidential election.”

The defendants are accused of meeting covertly in the basement of the Michigan Republican Party headquarters on December 14th, and then signing their names to multiple certificates stating they were the “duly elected and qualified electors for President and Vice President of the United States of America for the State of Michigan.”