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Summary
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Judge James Maceroni dismissed charges against voter Stacey Kramer in a double-voting case
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Court found Kramer relied in good faith on election officials’ actions
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Errors by election workers allowed in-person voting despite an absentee ballot
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Most related cases brought by the Michigan AG’s Office have been dismissed or rejected on appeal
The last of four people accused in a double-voting case in the August 2024 primary election in St. Clair Shores had her case dismissed by a Macomb County Circuit Court judge.
Judge James Maceroni granted a defense motion to dismiss the case against Stacey Kramer in a written opinion Dec. 19, closing the case. She faced charges of voting both absentee and in person, and offering to vote more than once.
Her attorney, Margaret Raben, said Monday, Jan. 5, that Kramer “is relieved that this is over.”
“I think his decision is foolproof. It’s a wonderful decision,” Raben said, adding that Maceroni was meticulous in his 14-page opinion, which came after a hearing in August.
It said evidence indicated Kramer did not recall returning her absentee ballot July 2, 2024, and decided to vote in the Aug. 6 primary. Election workers and officials testified the only reason she was allowed to vote in person was because of “a series of mistakes by election workers at various levels in the voting process.”
Maceroni wrote the court found that Kramer “actively relied on the election inspectors and officials’ actions, and her reliance was in good faith and reasonable.” He said no election inspector or official ever indicated to her that she was ineligible to vote, adding: “given Defendant’s reliance on the election inspectors and officials’ actions, prosecution would be unfair.”
Raben will not be surprised if the Michigan Attorney General’s Office appeals the opinion, as it has in most of the other six cases it brought in the matter.
Kramer was one of seven people charged by the AG’s Office in October 2024 after County Prosecutor Peter Lucido declined to prosecute, with Lucido indicating that a review of the evidence concluded probable cause did not exist to believe a crime occurred. The alleged election fraud occurred at three different voting precincts.
The Detroit Free Press emailed the AG’s Office seeking comment on the dismissal and recent opinions in four of the other cases that went to the Michigan Court of Appeals when the office challenged dismissals by lower courts.
The state appellate court denied the AG Office’s applications for leave to appeal “for lack of merit in the grounds presented” in cases against election workers Emily McClintock, Molly Brasure and Patricia Guciardo, according to orders Dec. 29.
In October, a Macomb circuit judge affirmed a district court’s dismissal of voter Geneva O’Day’s case. The AG’s Office filed an application for leave to appeal, which the state appellate court granted Dec. 29.
The case against voter Douglas Kempkens Jr. was dismissed in Macomb Circuit Court, but the AG’s Office appealed. The state appellate court has not issued an order in his case.
In October, voter Frank Prezzato was sentenced to six months of probation by a Macomb circuit judge after pleading guilty to one count of election law-voting absentee and in person. He sought to delay sentencing for six months and upon successful completion of probation, the charge to which he entered his plea would be dismissed with prejudice. A delayed sentencing hearing is set for April 15.
