Lansing — Attorney General Dana Nessel's office has asked a state agency to appoint a special prosecutor to consider filing criminal charges against nine individuals for allegedly participating in a "conspiracy" to gain improper access to voting machines after the 2020 election.

The Detroit News reported Sunday the nine individuals include Republican attorney general candidate Matt DePerno, state Rep. Daire Rendon, R-Lake City, Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf and attorney Stefanie Lambert.

The request was detailed in a petition Danielle Hagaman-Clark, chief of the Attorney General's criminal trials and appeals division, filed with the Michigan Prosecuting Attorneys Coordinating Council.

Details of the wide-ranging probe into efforts to tamper with vote-counting machines were disclosed in a letter Deputy Attorney General Christina Grossi wrote to Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, who asked the Attorney General's office in February to investigate third-party access to voting equipment in Roscommon County.