Republicans said they have uncovered a “glitch” that could have resulted in multiple duplicate ballots being cast in Michigan.
Lara Trump, the daughter-in-law of Donald Trump and cochair of the Republican National Committee, said the RNC’s election integrity team had received reports of “thousands of duplicate ballots” in the key swing state which will now no longer be counted.
The wife of the former president’s son, Eric Trump, made the remarks on X, formerly Twitter, while sharing an image appearing to show one voter ID being linked to various addresses in Michigan being able to cast a ballot 29 times.
The RNC and other Republican figures have filed dozens of election and voting related lawsuits, which they say will guarantee that November’s race between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris is fair and accurate. Democrats have accused the suits, presented under the guise of election integrity, of laying the groundwork for disputing the results in the event of another potential Trump loss.
“Our election integrity team received reports of thousands of duplicate ballots in Michigan,” Lara Trump posted. “We immediately investigated and have confirmed that it was a glitch in the system—these duplicates were not and will not be counted. We are on it and protecting the vote!”
Newsweek has contacted the Michigan Secretary of State’s office for comment via email.
Our election integrity team received reports of thousands of duplicate ballots in Michigan.
We immediately investigated and have CONFIRMED that it was a glitch in the system – these duplicates were not and WILL NOT BE COUNTED.
We are on it and protecting the vote! https://t.co/F73rzmsBRL
— Lara Trump (@LaraLeaTrump) October 30, 2024
The image reportedly showing one person voting multiple times with the same voting ID was also shared on social media by the Rasmussen Reports polling group and attorney Matthew DePerno.
DePerno, a former Michigan GOP attorney general candidate, has been charged in connection with an alleged effort to illegally access and tamper with voting machines in Michigan after the 2020 election. DePerno, who is awaiting trial, denies the charges and claims they are politically motivated.
“After reviewing the Qualified Voter File (QVF) of votes actually cast as of yesterday, Oct. 29, 2024, the database identifies 114,545 Michigan voters who have cast 279,113 ballots from multiple addresses across the state,” DePerno posted. “This results in 164,568 excess ballots as of 10/29/2024.”
Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
Political commentator Ed Krassenstein said “people really are pretty dumb” if they think multiple ballots from one voter ID could be counted.
“Only one vote is counted per voter ID. First of all, there is no evidence that this is a legitimate database entry,” Krassenstein posted to his 1 million followers.
“Second, just because a database might show multiple addresses and entries for the same person, it doesn’t mean that person voted multiple times or that their vote is being counted more than once.”
On Wednesday, Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson and Washtenaw County Prosecutor Eli Savit announced that a non-U.S. citizen had been charged with illegally registering to vote and casting a ballot in the 2024 election.
The suspect, reported by The Detroit News to be a 19-year-old Chinese student, cast their ballot at an Ann Arbor early voting site on October 27. They have been charged with perjury—making a false statement on an affidavit for the purpose of securing voter registration—and being an unauthorized elector who attempted to vote.
“Let this be clear: Voting records are public. Any non citizen who attempts to vote fraudulently in Michigan will expose themselves to great risk and will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Benson and Savit said in a statement.
Polling suggests the race between Trump and Harris in the battleground state of Michigan is neck and neck.