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KENT COUNTY, Mich. — The Kent County clerk wrapped up a post-election audit of a Gaines Township precinct after a man was accused of stealing voter information, and confirmed the tampering did not affect the outcome of the August primary vote. 

James Donald Holkeboer was a township election worker at Gaines Township Precinct 8 on Aug. 18. That precinct is located at Ada Bible Church, 2045 68th Street SE.

Holkeboer allegedly inserted a personal USB drive into an electronic poll book after the primary election was over. 

Holkeboer was an alternate Michigan GOP delegate for the 3rd Congressional District, according to the Kent GOP website. 

The August election was the first Holkeboer worked as an inspector, Kent County Chief Deputy Clerk Rob Macomber said.

The audit began on Tuesday, Oct. 4 at the Gaines Charter Township offices, where a team of election workers began hand-counting Precinct 8 votes from the primary. About 800 votes were audited by hand.

Kent County clerk Lisa Posthumus Lyons says the incident had no effect on the results of the election, but she wants to reaffirm those results and reassure voters.

She also said this kind of breach will not be tolerated.

"This is a violation of the public trust, it's a violation of the oath that our election workers take, and truly, it's egregious and it's alarming," she said. "And we are going to do everything we can to protect our elections, to preserve public trust in our elections, and to pursue illegal activity aggressively and to the fullest extent of the law." 

Posthumus Lyons released a statement following the audit.

“Conducting this audit was critical to reaffirm the results in Gaines Township, Precinct 8 and to rebuild public trust that was jeopardized as a result of this egregious violation," Lyons said.  

Online records show that more than 2,500 people are eligible to vote at that precinct, which means their information may have been compromised. A total of 343 people voted in person at the precinct during the election.

Posthumus Lyons says it is too early in the investigation to know if voters' information was impacted. Voters will be contacted later in the investigation if their information was compromised.

Post-Election Audits are a routine function of the County Clerk’s Office. Audits take place at 10 randomly selected precincts following the election. The Oct. 4 audit in Gaines Township was not one of the random precincts selected but was ordered as an added measure.

You can learn more about how Michigan conducts post-election audits here.

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