DETROIT, MICHIGAN — O’Keefe Media Group obtained voter records showing multiple absentee ballot return envelopes associated with individual Detroit voters, revealing discrepancies involving signatures, ballot numbers, voter identification numbers, and election officials’ initials.
The documents are absentee ballot return envelopes, not the ballots themselves. They are the signed envelopes used to return absentee ballots to election officials.
To be clear, having two voter registrations is not, by itself, evidence that a person voted twice. Likewise, the existence of two absentee ballot return envelopes does not establish that two votes were ultimately counted.
But nonetheless, James O’Keefe and OMG undercover journalists went door to door in Detroit to locate the voters named in the records, showed them their absentee ballot return envelopes, and asked them directly about the discrepancies.
Two Return Envelopes, Different Ballot Numbers
One of the cases identified by OMG involved Lauren Christine Andretti.
Records reviewed by OMG showed two separate absentee ballot return envelopes issued in her name, both dated November 1, 2020. One displayed ballot number 1691, while the other displayed ballot number 1692.
According to the material obtained by OMG, the city’s absentee voter list recorded ballot number 1692 as the eligible ballot, while copies of return envelopes showed both numbers as received. Neither copy displayed an obvious rejection notice.
The signatures on the two envelopes also looked drastically different. One was written in cursive, while the other appeared as an illegible scribbled signature. OMG also scanned the barcodes on the envelopes and both were associated with the same voter identification number.
The documents alone, however, do not establish that two ballots were actually counted.
One Address Leads to an Abandoned Building
When OMG attempted to locate Margarett Alma Bass at the registered address associated with the records, the team instead encountered a completely abandoned apartment building.
According to the investigation script, police who arrived at the location also confirmed that the building was abandoned. OMG wanted to visit Bass due to a noticeable discrepancy of the signatures on her return envelopes.
Family Refuses to Let O’Keefe Speak With Naomi Price
Another case of duplicate absentee ballots involved Naomi Price.
OMG reviewed two absentee ballot return envelopes bearing Price’s name but carrying different ballot numbers: 4831 and 5490. OMG says barcode scans of the envelopes produced identical voter identification numbers, indicating that both envelopes were associated with the same voter record.
O’Keefe went to Price’s home seeking an explanation for the two envelopes, but her grandson refused to allow the team to speak with her.
“You are not talking to my grandmother!” the man told O’Keefe.
The encounter escalated, with residents threatening to release their dogs, calling the police, and demanding that OMG’s camera crew not record their property.
Detroit Voter Responds: “What About It?”
OMG also identified two absentee ballot return envelopes associated with Michael Lynn Barnett.
The envelopes contained similar looking signatures but different ballot numbers and different election official initials. OMG says its barcode scans linked both envelopes to the same voter identification number.
When O’Keefe visited Barnett at his home and asked about the two records, the exchange quickly became confrontational.
“What about it?” Barnett responded.
When O’Keefe referenced the dates appearing on the records, Barnett replied that he was not concerned about the 2020 election and eventually ordered O’Keefe off his property.
“They Must Have Sent Me Two”
The investigation took another turn when O’Keefe visited Myrtle Harvey.
OMG says Harvey had two absentee ballot return envelopes associated with her information. Unlike several of the other cases, however, the barcode scans produced two separate voter identification numbers, despite identical names, birthdates, and addresses appearing in the records.
When questioned about the two envelopes, Harvey appeared to attribute the situation to an error by the city.
“They must have sent me two,” she said.
O’Keefe responded, “They sent you two?”
“They must have made a mistake and sent you two,” he said, with Harvey responding affirmatively before slamming her front door in O’Keefe’s face, abruptly ending the conversation.
The signatures on Harvey’s two envelopes appeared nearly identical, which OMG says suggests that Harvey herself signed both envelopes.
Voter Says She Does Not Recognize Second Signature
At the final stop documented in the investigation, OMG visited Myranda Morrow.
According to the investigation, Morrow did not recognize the second signature appearing on an absentee ballot return envelope associated with her.
That left investigators with another unanswered question: Who signed the second envelope, and why?
OMG Seeks Complete Election Records
The discrepancies identified in the documents do not, on their own, establish that multiple ballots associated with any of these individuals were ultimately tabulated.
Determining that requires examining the complete history of each ballot.
OMG has submitted written requests to the Detroit Department of Elections and the City of Detroit’s FOIA office seeking the complete Qualified Voter File absentee voter transaction and audit histories for the voters identified in the investigation.
The requests also seek ballot applications, requests for new or replacement ballots, copies of the return envelopes, poll book notes, counting board totals, every ballot number issued, mailing dates, return dates and times, and records showing the final status of each ballot.
Those records could establish whether a ballot was accepted, rejected, spoiled, surrendered, voided, replaced, challenged, or ultimately tabulated.
Was one ballot canceled? Was one replaced? Was one rejected? Or did both move forward?
OMG’s election fraud investigation continues.
